Bush Pilot
by elenamindollin
Summary: [Eight Below] Emily and Katie are best friends, but when Em meets Katie's new boyfriend, she discovers that old grudges die hard. Surprise twist at the end! Starts before the movie and follows through.
1. Two Friends, Separate Missions

**Chapter One: Two Friends, Separate Missions**

"Em?" Katie called, tossing her helmet on the chair near the door. "You here?"

"Yeah," Emily Hawkins responded, coming out of the bathroom and toweling her wet, shoulder-length hair. She had just finished showering in time to make her run to the German base about twenty-five miles northwest of the McMurdough base on the coast of the frozen wasteland of Antarctica – her home. She deftly caught the keys Katie tossed to her.

"The bird's all yours, Emmy," her friend and fellow bush pilot said with a grin.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Emily growled, glowering at her friend.

"At least a hundred times," Katie replied, ignoring Emily's look and crossing to the refrigerator, opening it, and glancing over the contents. "Get anything good since I left for the American outpost?"

"There's leftover pizza in that plastic container on the top shelf," Emily responded. "Courtesy of a frozen-food shipment from Italy that got in two days ago."

Katie's eyes brightened as they settled on the said item. "That's better than freeze-dried beef-and-potatoes any day."

Emily pulled her coat out of the closet. "Yeah, well, don't eat it all; I should be back sometime tomorrow and I'll be hungry."

"Yes, ma'am," Katie teased. She and Emily had been friends for almost three years now, ever since meeting in a hotel in New Zealand and discovering that they were both headed down to Antarctica as rookie bush pilots for the National Science Foundation (NSF). It was their job to ferry supplies, food, and people between the various research bases sprinkled along the Antarctic coast, as well as handle any evacuations of personnel in hazardous conditions. Katie, an Alaskan native, loved the cold and had pursued the career because it suited her interests. Emily had literally been brought up – for half her life, at least – in the pilot-seat of a plane: her father was an Arctic bush pilot and renowned scientist who spent his summers studying the verdant, rugged tundra of Northern Canada. His only daughter nearly always accompanied him on those excursions, so she was well-acquainted with life in snow-covered outposts and command centers – she'd just decided to try life at the other end of the world.

That wasn't to say that neither of them enjoyed warmer climates. Katie had attended a university in Miami, receiving a degree in technical engineering and mechanics, while Emily had been born in the San Francisco bay area and had gone to school there, growing up on the soft foam of a surfboard.

Flipping her strawberry-blonde hair upside down and securing it in a ponytail, Emily then donned a pair of dark sunglasses over her green eyes and shouldered her duffel bag, pocketing the keys to the plane.

"Hey Emily!" Katie called suddenly, just as she was about to leave.

"What!" she called back, her hand on the door knob.

"When are you coming with me to the American base, Victoria? You have to meet my boyfriend!"

Emily's shapely lips twitched in a smile and her eyes twinkled behind her sunglasses. "Maybe soon, Kate! Bye!" She opened the door and stepped out into the breathtaking cold, barely catching Katie's returning farewell before the wind whipped the sound away. Taking a deep breath, she put on a cocky grin and strode with long paces across the grounds to the hangar and registered her mission info with the transportations officer – an attractive young sergeant with dark wavy hair and a ready smile for the female bush pilots that came through. He flashed a brilliant smile at her and nodded as he took down her name and destination.

"You've got a cargo of two scientists, some gear, and a month's supply of food for Gretchen (the German base). Watch the air currents on your way back; we're looking to have a mild storm by tomorrow afternoon."

"I will, sir," Emily said, nodding to him in return.

"Don't be so formal with me, Hawkins. I won't bite your head off like Captain Mitchell might," the sergeant, whose name was Bryan Rice, said.

"And you stop flirting, Rice, or I'll report you to Captain Mitchell," Emily responded with a grin.

The officer gave her a sassy salute. "Yes'm."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him to scan the hanger, her eyes picking out her plane and tracing its familiar contours with satisfaction. Grinning again at Rice, she saluted him and strode towards her aircraft.

"Good flying, Hawkins!" he called after her.

"Thanks, Rice!"


	2. The Boyfriend

_Sergeant Rice was right,_ Emily acknowledged inwardly as she guided the plane into the hangar, home again, _There _were_ some nasty cross-currents up there._ It had been a tense journey home from Gretchen research base as her plane occasionally bucked over the cross-currents and slipstreams, but long years of training helped her to keep on course and she'd arrived back at McMurdough with nothing more than frayed nerves.

"Emily!" Katie was there to greet her with a hug as she pulled the duffel out of her friend's hands and slung it over her own shoulder. "You look bushed – no pun intended," she added as Emily threw her a sarcastic glance, "but hey, good news! Captain Mitchell says you're free next weekend and I have another drop to make at Victoria… what do you say? Want to come?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "I suppose I might as well go and meet this boyfriend of yours… just to see if he's all you say he is. And maybe I'll get some peace after this."

"I doubt it," Katie laughed. She sighed and her eyes focused on something far away. "He has his own team of dogs – he's the only one with them on this side of the coast, too."

Emily grinned, knowing that her friend had a weakness for huskies. So did she, actually. Huskies, in her opinion, were the most beautiful creatures on earth. "So… are you in love with him, or with his dogs?" she teased lightly.

"Oh, I'm most definitely in love with _him_," Katie assured, boxing Emily's shoulder. "Now, let's get inside… I didn't save you any pizza, but I've got a mean dish of classic spaghetti and meatballs whipped up for you – American-style this time."

* * *

"Here we are," Katie announced as she brought the plane to a stop and killed the engine. Both girls removed their headsets and dropped to the ground, Emily coming around the front of the plane to join her friend.

A dark-haired young man poked his head out of the bunkhouse, looking around for the source of the now-quiet engines. His dark eyes lit up. "Crazy Katie!" he hailed, sprinting out, while trying to pull on his coat at the same time and failing to do it correctly. Emily found it rather amusing. He stopped as he got closer, his eyes traveling over Emily's red-blonde hair, eyes hidden behind her dark glasses, and trim, athletic figure. One eyebrow went up. "Who's this? I haven't seen her around before."

"I'm Emily Hawkins. Katie and I room together and we both are pilots," Emily introduced herself, sticking out her hand for him to grasp and shaking it firmly.

He looked surprised at the strength in her grip and cleared his throat before grinning broadly. "I'm Charlie Cooper – resident cartographer, navigationalist, and…" he indicated the standing snow plow, "runway paver."

Thinking this was Katie's boyfriend, Emily looked expectantly at her friend, but Katie was glancing around, obviously scanning for someone. The approach of a silver-haired older gentleman drew Emily's attention away from her friend and he introduced himself as Andrew Harrison, the base's director. The older woman with him was Rosemary. He greeted Katie warmly and they talked easily and made light conversation.

Rapidly losing interest, Emily leaned into the plane to check the fuselage and the pressure and temperature gages, keeping an eye out for any unusual weather patterns in the area. She also checked the log for upcoming flight schedules and rummaged through the hold for anything interesting. She was in the midst of this activity when Katie's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Emily, this is Jerry… my boyfriend."

Emily spun around to greet the man who'd come up and put his arms around Katie's shoulders, but she froze when her eyes rested on his face. Jerry Shepard removed his ski goggles as Emily whipped off her sunglasses to get a clearer look. _It can't be,_ she thought. But there he was: the same blonde hair, the same fathoms-deep blue eyes, the same thousand-watt smile. Involuntarily, her lips pressed into a thin hard line as she took his outstretched hand. "Jerry Shepard," she said coolly, "I didn't expect to see _you_ here."

"Emily," he said, his voice flat and emotionless, his expression impossible to read. "It's been a long time."

Katie's beaming smile evaporated to be replaced by a confused frown. "You two know each other?"

"Yes, we –" Jerry began.

"We've met," Emily interrupted in a clipped tone.

Jerry opened his mouth to say more, but a dark look from Emily made him reconsider and drop the issue. Clearing his throat a little awkwardly, he turned to a long line of beautiful huskies that Emily had failed to notice in the shock of seeing Jerry again. "Well," he said in a forced voice, "Official introductions." He started at the end of the line with a handsome gray and white malamute. "This here is Shadow, and the red one's Buck. They're our two malamutes. This one," he pointed to an all white dog with ultra-blue eyes, "is Shorty, and the one next to him is Jesse – she's retiring after this season." Emily greeted each dog as Jerry introduced them, removing her gloves so that they could smell her hands. Jerry moved to the next two. "These are the twins – Truman and Dewey – they don't get along very well yet. And up here, we have Old Jack – also getting along in years – and this here," he crouched to kiss the nose of a stunningly beautiful brown-accented, silver-tipped female husky, "is my main girl, Maya."

Emily instantly fell in love with the lead female and as she knelt in front of Maya, the dog sniffed her face and lightly licked the tip of her nose. "She likes you," Jerry commented, smiling genuinely for the first time.

Without looking back at him, she kissed the husky's muzzle and remarked coolly, "At least one of you does."

"Ouch, Cooper remarked, "That was a low blow."

Jerry nodded grimly before turning to Katie. "Let's go inside and warm up. Rosie will have some hot cocoa and rolls waiting for us." He unhitched all the dogs and whistled sharply between his teeth. "Come on, kids, inside!" He slipped an arm around Katie's waist and guided her indoors, followed by all the dogs. Except Maya. She hung back, walking beside Emily as the pilot entered the bunker, a fact that pleased Emily immensely.

* * *

_Review Please!_


	3. Digging Up The Past

**Chapter Three: Digging Up The Past**

Later that night, however, things took a different turn. Emily rounded on Katie as soon as they were alone. "How could you do that to me? Why didn't you tell me his name?" she cried in exasperation and humiliation. She spun away, dragging her hands through her hair, which she'd taken out of its ponytail.

Katie flopped down on her bed, lying on her stomach with her chin propped in her hands. Her dark brown eyes followed her friend's every move as Emily paced restlessly from one end of the room to the other. "Would you mind telling me the story behind this?" she asked. "You two are more than casual acquaintances."

Emily sighed and finally ceased pacing, kicking off her snow boots and shedding her winter-weather gear. Sitting down on her bed, she leaned back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Jerry and I were… childhood sweethearts, I guess you could say. We went to school together, lived close to each other, and played together every day. In junior high, we were inseparable and then in high school… well, I guess you could say we officially fell in love."

Katie nodded, sitting up a little. "But what happened?"

"You know that I went to the Arctic Circle every summer to be with my father." Katie nodded. "Jerry had always been a little jealous of my adventures up there and ofthe other boys – native eskimos, usually – that I met and hung out with. He was afraid that I liked them better. So, his fury and jealousy built up until the summer before my senior year, when he lost it and got back at me the only way an immature teenage boy can – dropping me like a hot potato, badmouthing me, and hooking up with some blonde-haired beach bimbo. When I got back and found out what he'd been doing, I confronted him about it, wanting to work it out." She shook her head to indicate the futility of her effort. "Harsh words were spoken on both sides and I must confess, I left a handprint several layers deep on his cheek. We didn't speak to each other all through our senior year, Jerry dropped his girlfriend and never dated, and after graduation, we went our separate ways, not thinking we'd ever see each other again…" She grinned wryly. "But it seems fate had a different idea."

"Surely you two aren't still bitter after what, five years?" Katie exclaimed. She was clearly upset by this iron wedge driven between her boyfriend and best friend.

"If by that you mean do we hate each other? No, we don't. I don't think we ever really did. But the coldness definitely exists and will take a long time to thaw. However," Emily added, looking pointedly into Katie's face, "if it means enough to you, Kate, I'll try – for my part – to make it easier for you by being friendly and warm towards him."

Her friend smiled gratefully. "It would mean so much to me, Em. Mind you," she said sternly, her eyes teasing, "don't you dare go stealing him back from me!"

Emily grinned her green eyes sparkling defiantly. "Give me a _little_ more credit than that!"


	4. The Prank

**Chapter Four: A Prank**

Emily held true to her promise over the next few months and made an effort to keep the tension between herself and Jerry to a minimum. Eventually, both she and Jerry reached an unspoken agreement to put it all behind them and, for Katie's sake, get along. She began going with Katie to Victoria whenever her schedule allowed and even dropped by a few times on her own, finding that she loved the fresh, robust, All-American feeling and – an extra incentive – that the dogs had warmed up to her and greeted her enthusiastically whenever she stepped off the plane.

* * *

Evenings at Victoria were the most enjoyable, when the whole staff was inside, eating dinner and trading stories. Jerry talked endlessly about the dogs – whom Emily was beginning to love almost as much as he did – while Cooper always embarked on another campaign to convince everyone else that he really _did_ have a girlfriend at one base or another. Andy and Rosie would share their recent discoveries and Katie and Emily would take turns telling their own adventures, as well as filling them in on news and gossip from Outside – as they'd all come to refer to the rest of the world. 

Katie and Emily made themselves at home on such evenings, even volunteering to wash the dishes or put the food away. Rosie graciously shared her room with them whenever the weather kept them overnight, and they gladly accepted. After cleanup, Jerry, Cooper, and most of the time, Katie would sit down to a game of poker while Emily – never a big one for cards – would curl up on the sofa between Maya and Shadow with a book.

* * *

On one of their first visits, Emily had dragged Cooper off to do something else, leaving Jerry and Katie some time alone together. This became a regular routine – always masterfully done to avoid embarrassing them – and Emily learned more than she ever cared to know about navigation, cartography, and Cooper's love life as a result of it.

* * *

One such pleasant evening, a few months into the summer season, after the older residents of the base had tactfully left the younger group in peace, Jerry surprised Emily. "So, Emily," he drawled, leaning back in his chair and fixing her with a level stare, "is there any love-sick surfer-boy waiting for you back in California? Some shallow rich boy with a tan and bleached-blonde hair who has you wrapped around his finger?" He winked briefly at Katie before turning his attention back to Emily. 

"Two years is a long time for any guy to wait, Jerry," Emily replied, completely unruffled by the teasing in his voice, "and that's how long it's been since I've been home. If – assuming I _have _a boyfriend – he did wait this long, he's either a loser with no life, or a heck of a lot deeper than you." Her eyes twinkled teasingly. "Although _that_ isn't hard to accomplish." Cooper sucked in his breath and flashed Emily a discreet thumbs-up.

Jerry's blue eyes flashed indignantly as all four legs of his chair hit the ground with a thump and he grabbed his glass of water. "Why you…" he cried, splashing it in her face before diving out of his chair and darting out of reach with a devilish grin. Katie jumped to her feet and retreated to the far corner – wisely choosing not to get involved.

Cooper remained in his seat at the table. "Score, Jerry! It's one to one now."

Emily stared at Jerry, astonished and dripping wet. For a moment, no one moved, then Emily jumped to her feet and shot into the bathroom, slamming the door. Jerry's smile changed to a look of alarm and regret and he bolted to the door. "Emily! I'm sorry!" he yelled, pounding on the reinforced wood paneling, "Open up, Em! Look, I was kidding! I didn't mean to get you so wet! I'm sorry!"

Abruptly the door flew open, causing Jerry to nearly lose his balance. Emily – still wet – leaned against the doorframe, looking up at him innocently. "You're really sorry?" she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

Jerry sighed. "Of course."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Truce?" she asked, extending her hand.

He grinned. "Truce."

"Jerry, look out for –" Katie began to warn him, but it was too late – he clapped his hand into her handful of shaving cream.

"Oh!" Emily said, feigning surprised innocence, "I'm sorry! Guess you'll just have to clean that off." With a wicked gleam in her eye, she reached up and patted his cheek with her other, lipstick-covered hand, dragging the red smear halfway across his face. Then, turning to Katie, she grinned mischievously. "You're not wearing any lipstick today, Katie. Want to help him get that off?"

Katie stared agape at her best friend. "You little devil! You have a mean streak to match your red hair!" she said, playfully slapping Emily's arm. The other girl only smiled sweetly and ducked into the room she shared with Katie and Rosie to change.

* * *

_Reviews welcome! Tell me what ya'll think, kay? flamers scorned, constructive crit appreciated. _


	5. Breakup

**Chapter Five: Breakup**

Emily's little prank did much to ease the tension between her and Jerry, though she knew it was still present. He had obviously changed a lot since she had known him in high school and, with time, revealed a depth and maturity that she had not expected. His eyes, as penetrating as ever, shone with the new seriousness and wisdom that living on the bottom of the world brought. Despite her reservations about letting him back into her life, Emily found herself irresistibly drawn to him and, with Katie's encouragement, she and Jerry began to form a deep, platonic relationship.

Things went smoothly through the remainder of that season and through the beginning of the next as the bond between Emily and Jerry deepened to a strong, close friendship, while Katie and Jerry fell even more in love and even began mentioning – only in passing, of course – marriage and family. Emily watched this progression between Jerry and her best friend with growing pleasure, and secretly hoped that Jerry would not disappoint Katie as he had her.

* * *

But when she walked through the door to the bunkhouse she shared with Katie and found her best friend seated at the kitchen table with tears streaming down her cheeks, Emily knew something was very wrong. Shedding her coat, gloves, hat and scarf, she crossed the room and crouched to wrap an arm around Katie's shoulder. "Katie, what's wrong? What happened?" 

Katie didn't respond for several minutes, just caught Emily's hand and squeezed it appreciatively before wiping her face and stilling her tears. Emily moved discreetly to the refrigerator and poured a tall glass of cold milk for each of them. Katie smiled faintly but gratefully as Emily placed one of the glasses in front of her and sat down beside her. Sensing that she might be ready to talk, Emily laid a hand on Katie's arm and prompted gently, "Well?"

Katie sighed, her dark brown eyes fixed resolutely on her hands. "It's Jerry."

Emily's eyes narrowed dangerously and a keen disappointment lanced through her. "What did he do?"

"Nothing," Katie said, shaking her head. "It's just that… well, I can't take it anymore. You know how dangerous those ice shelves can be. Three times _this week_ he's nearly died and only just managed to make it back alive through quick thinking on his part, fierce loyalty on Maya's and the dogs', and sheer dumb luck." She laced her fingers together and pressed her thumbs to her temples. "You have no idea how nerve-wracking it is to hear those stories about the man you love. Last night I talked to him about it – begged him to be more careful. Or better yet, to give it up and come work here at McMurdough. Well…" she laughed bitterly, "You know Jerry."

"So you broke it off? Or did he?" Emily asked, watching her friend compassionately.

"Jerry did. When I told him I couldn't bear knowing that he could die anytime, he got this sad look in his eyes. He told me that he'd known it would eventually come to this. 'Relationships don't really fit my lifestyle,' he'd said bitterly. So we decided that it was better for both of us if we just go on being friends, not a couple." She smiled a little, her eyes still sad. "It still hurts, though."

Emily's deep green eyes were soft and sympathetic as she took one of Katie's hands in both of her own. "I'm so sorry, Kate," she murmured softly, "I wish there was something I could do to help. I can't make it all better, you know."

"I understand, Emily," Katie sighed. "This is _my_ problem, and I don't expect you to do anything. I know how you feel about this; Jerry has disappointed you again. Just don't be angry with him for it, please? Those dogs are his life, and I can't blame him for loving his work." Her eyes fell to her hands. "He just loves it more than he does me."

Emily's head jerked up sharply, her eyes flashing. "That's wrong, Katie. No man should love his work more than his girl. If he does, he certainly doesn't deserve _her_."

"Don't get worked up over it, Em," Katie reproved gently. "Besides," she continued, her eyes searching Emily's intently, "maybe it's not work _or_ me that Jerry loves."

Emily stood abruptly. "No, Katie. Jerry Shepard is part of my past and he's going to stay there! I don't feel anything for him anymore, and trying to force us back together will just bring old pains to the surface again. No, there won't ever be Emily-and-Jerry again. So don't try it, Katie Yamesch!"

Katie smiled gently. "You'll jinx yourself that way, Em. Be careful what you say, and don't tempt fate." She stood as well and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for everything, Em."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_I don't know Katie's last name and I don't think it's ever mentioned, so I just made one up. It sounds foreign enough to be a Native American name (I think) and I apologize if it isn't. Review please!_


	6. Confrontation

**Chapter Six: Confrontation**

Despite the fact that Katie had requested her to not get mad at Jerry, Emily decided to fly out to Victoria as soon as possible and talk to him about it. Katie appeared to get over him, but in the last two weeks, Emily had found plenty of evidence supporting the opposite – tear-stained pillows, Katie mooning over some of the pictures they had of Jerry, the wistful look in her eyes when his name was mentioned, and Emily had even caught her crying herself to sleep the night before – and she had resolved to talk to Jerry.

So, without alerting Katie, she slipped out of bed early one morning and dressed in the bathroom, then grabbed her coat, boots, and snowmobile keys and snuck out of the bunkhouse. When she entered the hangar, Bryan Rice looked up with interest. "Where are we going so early this morning?" he asked cheerfully.

She crossed over to him. "I have no other engagements today and tomorrow and –"

"You'd like a date," Rice interrupted, leaning forward and grinning flirtatiously.

"–I have an errand I need to run to Victoria this morning," she finished, glaring at the flight sergeant. "It's important, Rice."

"Sure it is," he replied flippantly, "We all know how much you enjoy the company of a certain dog-sledder."

"Enough, Bryan. This isn't about him. Just register my flight information and give me the keys to my plane."

He eyed her for a moment, then nodded slyly. "Well, there's nothing in the rules that says you can't fly to a station to see a boyfriend… but a pleasure trip? You can't do that."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Fine, put whatever you like."

"Deal," he said with a grin as he turned to the wall of keys and found her set, tossing them to her. "Have fun with your boyfriend, Hawkins," he said as she growled at him and turned away.

* * *

As she landed and rolled to a stop in front of Victoria, Andy Harris opened the door curiously, his eyes brightening as he recognized her plane. "Miss Hawkins!" he called as she killed the engine and jumped out of the cockpit, "what brings you here? Come in, come in." 

She smiled as he ushered her indoors. The staff had just sat down to breakfast, and all heads turned to her, making her feel a little conspicuous. "Can I talk to you, Jerry?" she asked, clearing her throat awkwardly.

He met her eyes for a moment before nodding. "I'll get my coat."

When he'd dressed, he followed Emily outside and walked beside her in silence, waiting for her to speak. At length, she did. "Do you know why I'm here, Jer?"

He studied her green eyes for a minute. "This is about Katie, isn't it?"

Emily nodded slowly. "You hurt her deeply, Jerry. How could you do it? Couldn't you have been at least a little more understanding of how she felt?"

Sighing, Jerry shook his head remorsefully and said, "I know you're mad at me for breaking it off, Emily. But I don't believe it's your place to interfere. Now I don't mean that rudely," he continued hastily as her mouth opened to utter a stinging reply, "It's just that this is something between me and Katie. She agreed to it, remember?"

"That doesn't mean she's okay with it!"

"Do think _I_ like it?" Jerry retorted, stopping in his tracks, forcing Emily to stop as well and turn back to face him. "Do you think this is easy for me? It kills me to do this, but I don't have another choice! I invested everything I own in those dogs and this is the only way for me to make a living. This _is_ my life! Surely you understand that! Would you give up the career of your dreams just because your boyfriend couldn't handle the danger involved? Katie will have to understand. I don't expect her to stop flying and if she really loves me, she'll have to accept that she can't expect me to walk away from _my_ job." He took a deep breath to force himself to relax, then continued, "I know you're disappointed in me, Emily. You were happy for us, I know. You hoped that I had changed. Well, I _have_," he said fiercely, gripping her shoulder and looking directly into her eyes. "I care about things that I never used to when we knew each other so long ago. You're angry with my 'insensitivity' but you don't realize how much it hurts me, too. I loved Katie. Very much. And I wish to God that we could make it work."

Emily stared at him, dumbfounded. His eyes radiated the deep passion and turmoil he was obviously feeling and suddenly, she felt very embarrassed and childish for accusing him of insensitivity and heartlessness. He was suffering as much as Katie. "I'm sorry, Jerry. I didn't know."

In a tender gesture that surprised her, he reached out and touched her cheek, where the heat of blush tinted it pink. "I didn't expect you to, unless I told you. After all, I did a horrible thing to you… why would it have been different for Katie?" He tilted his head, regarding her seriously. "Have you ever wondered what would have happened if it had been different? If we had never broken up?"

She smiled wryly. "A million times. But," she continued, her eyes taking on an equal measure of gravity, "neither of us would ever have made it here. We're both much wiser because of it, and I wouldn't trade my life for anything. No, Jerry, that's in the past… and it should stay there."

"I didn't mean to…" he started, turning contrite, "I wasn't trying to start anything. I understand as well as you that 'we' don't exist anymore. It would be cruel and heartless to entertain thoughts of you and me so close on the heels of my relationship with Katie – which, I might add, was nothing more than it appeared to be."

"I know, Jer," she said, a slight twinkle in her eye, "I would have noticed if Katie ever left my side at night."

He blushed deeply, then met her eyes again. "I'm glad we have this second chance, Em. I owe it to you to make you happy, but I can only do that as a friend."He looked down and shovedhis hands into his coat pockets,"My heart belongs to Katie."

She slugged his shoulder gently. "I never doubted that for a second." Then she grinned bashfully and looked around at the barren landscape and the small blotch of Victoria in the distance. "We should get back – I don't want Cooper getting any ideas about us." Jerry nodded in agreement and offered his arm, which she took. As they walked back, she caught him sending her a sidelong glance filled with humor. "What?"

"I was just thinking…you and Cooper would make a cute couple…"

"Jerry!" she cried, her eyes flashing indignantly. "I'm not _that_ desperate yet!"

"Ouch. Score for you," he retorted in a perfect imitation of Cooper's voice.

"You're mean, you know that?"

"So are you, that's why we get along so well."

She tossed her head in frustration, shoving him away. He walked complacently beside her, sending her mischievous glances occasionally. "Jerk," she growled out of the corner of her mouth.

He responded with a ready grin. "Jerk's friend."

* * *

_Don't forget to review! I want to hear your feedback!_


	7. Under Pressure

**Chapter Eight: Under Pressure**

While Jerry and Emily remained on good terms, a distinct awkwardness pervaded the base whenever Katie and Jerry were together. To Emily, it was clear that they each still had deep feelings for each other and it frustrated her that they didn't see it. She enlisted Cooper's help to try and get them alone once in a while, but Katie nearly always called their bluff and Jerry would shake his head warningly when Emily would stand to leave. Discouraged, she submitted and sat back, watching two of her closest friends suffer through their breakup.

On top of this, she had received news from home that caused her great distress: her father had had an accident with the ice and had come home with a chronic cough that showed no signs of letting up. Weighed down by this news, she was unprepared for a sudden increase in the rigidity of her schedule. Whether it was because more and more countries were starting to set up bases along the coastline, or maybe because the technology and method of extracting and reading ice cores had skyrocketed, she and Katie began to morph from relaxed, fly-on-their-own-time pilots to busy, high-demand, military-style fliers. Instead of choosing their missions and having free time to visit bases, both were assigned to specific areas with two to three stations each and were solely responsible for handling the increased, end-of-the-season flurry of activity that occurred every year as scientists rushed to get their data collected and sent off. On numerous occasions, she or Katie had to fly to New Zealand to directly meet scientists and pick up fresh supplies in time for deadlines. Under these new conditions, it became increasingly difficult to spend time with each other, let alone with their friends at Victoria.

Under this added pressure, Emily snapped. Her eyes lost their usual vivid life and sank deep into her drawn, haggard face. On the off chance that a free weekend opened up, she refused point-blank to go anywhere, choosing instead to remain at home with a book. This disturbed Katie greatly, but she had no time to sit and talk to her about it.

* * *

A pivotal point was reached about a month before the season closed out for the year when, to Katie's alarm, she discovered that Emily had withdrawn her name entirely from the roster of bush pilots. Bryan Rice had questioned her about it, wondering what had happened to Emily, and had shown her the proof of it. Bewildered and deeply concerned, Katie wondered what on earth could have convinced Emily to stop flying; it was her greatest passion. She resolved one night to catch Emily before she slipped away again to work with the maintenance crews. So, she pulled out one of her roommate's favorite books and settled down to browse through it until she came home.

To her great surprise, as she flipped open the _Advanced Flight Techniques_ book, if fell to a page Emily had bookmarked with three pictures. One was of a tall, burly, distinguished looking older man with silver hair and a dazzling smile standing in front of a rusty old biplane. Flipping it over, she read: "_My dearest Emily, you are the kind of daughter every father wants to have – one who desires to carry on the family legacy. Your grandfather flew before me, and his father before him, and I know they are proud of you. I am proud of you too, my precious daughter. Don't ever get tired of the open sky, my little falcon. Love, Dad._" The next was a professional snapshot of a handsome young man with flame-red hair and tanned, freckled skin. His green eyes glinted as vividly beneath his shy lashes as Emily's. This one read: "_Hey 'Mily, happy 23rd birthday! I got my senior pictures early, so here's the best one for you to keep. I love you, big sis and have fun down there! Love, Brocks._" Immediately Katie recognized him as Emily's younger brother, Brockton Hawkins, who would be concluding his senior year when they went home. Moving it aside, she blinked in surprise at the last picture. It was of a younger, teenaged Emily, wearing a pale green tank top over a yellow swimsuit, her strawberry-blonde hair held back by a pair of dark sunglasses and blowing in the wind. The most surprising aspect of the picture, however, was the boy with her. It took Katie a few seconds to recognize a deeply tanned, towheaded Jerry, whose arms were thrown around Emily from behind. Both were grinning broadly against the breathtaking backdrop of the ocean. This one, too, had a caption: "_To my main girl: Don't ever forget these happy days. Love you forever, Jerry Shepard._" Apparently, Emily had taken his words to heart, for it was slightly rumpled and looked well worn, as though she pulled it out often to look at it. Katie wondered briefly if her friend had gotten over Jerry as completely as she claimed she had.

The click of a door and the rustle of a coat alerted her to Emily's return. The pilot-turned-mechanic tossed her coat and snowmobile keys on the counter and came into the room, pulling off her gloves and scarf. She froze when she saw Katie sitting with the book open on her lap, holding the three photos.

"Emily, we need to talk," Katie said softly.

"There's nothing to talk about," Emily said gruffly, crossing the room to take the book, jam the pictures back in it and slam it shut, her green eyes radiating betrayal. "What gives you the right to go through my things?" she asked reproachfully as she tried without success to reshelf the book with trembling hands.

"Emily." Katie laid a hand on her friend's arm, halting her efforts to shelf the book. Reluctantly, Emily's shoulders sagged and she turned to face her. "Just answer me one question." She waited until Emily nodded hesitantly before continuing, "Why are you here?"

"I… I was hungry and needed something to eat," Emily replied, obviously confused.

"No, Em, why are you _here_, in Antarctica? Why are you here to be a pilot if you won't even fly? Don't you want to?"

Emily's green eyes registered shock, then they grew very sad. "I love flying…so much that I can't leave it alone… not entirely," she said quietly, half to herself.

Katie's brown eyes filled with sympathy. "Why _are_ you trying to leave it?"

"Oh Kate," Emily suddenly turned away as her voice broke and tears began to spill down her cheeks. Hesitantly, Katie reached out and touched her shoulder, then moved closer, pulling her friend into a hug and allowing her to cry on her shoulder. After an undefinable amount of time, Emily's shudders ceased and her tears began to dry as she took deeper breaths. Sensing it was okay to talk, Katie took her friend's hand and pulled her down to sit beside her on the couch. Emily tucked her legs up underneath her and hugged the book to her chest – all in all, looking more vulnerable than Katie could ever remember seeing her. "I should have told you," Emily murmured in a small, quavering voice, "but I was stupid and tried to deal with it alone." She took a halting breath. "About five weeks ago, I received a letter from my mother that my father had had an accident in the ice and had come home early from the Arctic with a bad cough. Well… about a week ago, I received this…" she paused to open the book to another page where a rumpled, tear-stained letter lay between the pages. She pulled it out and passed it to Katie, who read it.

"_My darling Emily,_

_I'm afraid that the news I write is not happy. Since your father's ice-accident earlier last season, you are aware that his health has been… well, frail. Last Thursday, he fell ill with pneumonia and was hospitalized immediately. He never got better. Today, at four o' clock this morning, your father passed away…_"

Katie felt her voice catch in her throat as she stopped reading and looked up at Emily's lined face. "Oh Emily, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Emily shook her head, dismissing the apology. "Ever since that day, it's been getting harder and harder to get in the cockpit of a plane, knowing that the man who first put me there is gone forever. I just can't deal with it anymore." She looked up at Katie, her eyes filled with deep pain and remorse. "I'm not coming back next season. I'll go back to California and finish getting my degree in animal psychology."

"But why?" Katie asked, shaking her head in confusion. She took Emily's hands in her own. "You can't run from the pain, Emily. It will follow you wherever you go until you face it and learn to accept that your father's gone. I'm not saying that you forget him," she continued quickly, seeing a defensive remark on the tip of her friend's tongue, "But instead of running from his memory, you might try to embrace it; honor it." Gently, she took the book from Emily's hands and pulled out the picture of her father, flipping it so that the words were facing up. She watched her friend take the picture and read it again, tears welling up in her eyes. "Your father would want you to keep flying," she whispered, her eyes scanning Emily's face.

For a long while, Emily simply sat there, neither speaking or moving, just staring at the words written in bold print on the back of her father's photograph. When she finally looked up at Katie, her eyes were wide, but no longer so utterly empty and sad. "Do _you_ think I should keep flying?"

Katie shrugged. "It's your choice, Em, but I'll stand by you no matter what you choose to do."

Emily stared at her friend with a mixture of gratitude and affection, then, on impulse, hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Katie. You are the truest friend anyone could ever have."

Katie returned the hug, then pulled away as she though of something. "Jerry should know."

Emily gave her a puzzled look. "What?"

"No matter what's happened between you two, you're still friends and he knew your father. He deserves to know."

Emily thought for a moment before nodding. "All right. We'll go the next time you're free. But Katie?"

"Yes?"

"Don't make me ride shotgun or in the pilot's seat. I'll sit in the back."

Katie shrugged again. "It's your choice. I won't interfere."


	8. Reunion

**Chapter Eight: Reunion**

**_Two Years Later… _**

Emily did in fact pull through the hard times, but the process took the better part of a year and most of that time was spent away from Antarctica. She returned home to California to live with her mother and younger brother, Brockton, who had just graduated from high school. During that time, she wrote frequently to Katie and almost as often to those at Victoria. She also visited her father's grave often to sit and think. To her surprise, she found these visits to be healing and soothing rather than painful as she reconciled herself to her father's death and found that he wasn't really gone.

* * *

On her twenty-fifth birthday, she invited Katie, Jerry, Cooper, and the dogs over to her home for a barbeque. It was late August – nearly time to go back down to Antarctica for the summer season. Naturally, the conversation turned to the topic and Katie watched her friend carefully, ready to stop Jerry and Cooper if Emily showed any signs of discomfort, but there were none. The redhead waited patiently for a lull in the conversation, her fingers running absently through Shadow's fur as he lay beside her. When there was one, she said quietly, "I'm coming back."

Jerry's blue eyes widened in pleased surprise. "What?"

"I'm coming back with you to Antarctica this season."

"As a pilot?" Cooper asked bluntly, then yelped as Jerry smacked him for being tactless.

Emily smiled. "Yes, Coope, as a pilot. I've been away long enough."

"I'll say," Jerry said as Katie nodded in agreement. Their eyes met before darting aside to focus on other things, something that did not escape Emily's notice.

Mrs. Hawkins joined them, carrying a silver tray with Emily's choice of dessert on it. "Would you all care for some cheesecake?" she asked. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Jerry sitting next to her daughter and coolly skipped over him, leaving him the last and smallest piece.

Annoyed by the gesture, Emily glared at her mother, then removed the plate from Jerry's hands and placed her own – much larger – piece in his lap, eating the small one herself. Katie noticed the exchange and caught the flash of anger in Mrs. Hawkins' eyes. The older woman turned without a word and returned to the house.

* * *

Later that night, after Jerry and Cooper had left with the dogs and Katie – who would be staying with Emily until their departure – was showering, Emily confronted her mother. "What was the big idea? Slighting Jerry in front of everyone? I know you're mad about what he did eight years ago, but that's no excuse to behave so rudely."

"Watch your tongue, Emily Nicole; I'm still your mother, no matter how old you are," Mrs. Hawkins scolded as she put food away.

"That doesn't excuse you," Emily retorted, bristling.

Mrs. Hawkins set down the salad she was putting into a plastic container and turned to face her daughter. "I just can't believe you would be so reckless with your heart. Did it not occur to you that he might do it again? I can't trust him, Emily, you know that," she sighed as she turned back to the salad.

"Mom, do you really think that I would have specifically invited him if he hadn't changed? Yes, it has occurred to me that he might be the same immature boy he used to be, but I've gotten very close to him and I can tell you that he is a very different man now. I trust him with my life. Don't you think that if _I've_ forgiven him, then maybe _you_ should?"

"Em?" Katie called, coming down the stairs. "Oh." She stopped when she saw Mrs. Hawkins staring at her daughter and Emily leaning back against the counter with her arms folded tightly across her chest – a sign that she was annoyed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's okay, Kate," Emily said, dropping her arms to her side and joining her friend on the stairs. "The conversation was over anyway."

Despite the confrontation, Emily left her mother on good terms and, as Brockton drove them to the airport, she finally told Katie about the reason for their argument, to which Katie nodded. "I'd thought it might have been about Jerry. She still doesn't like him, then?"

Rolling her eyes, Emily said, "Of course not. She was furious that he'd even dared to set foot on our doorstep."

"She should be," Brockton muttered coldly from the driver's seat, "After all, he's been a real –"

"Brockton," Emily cut in sharply. "That's enough. Chances are he won't come around again, so you and Mom won't have to worry about it."

"Just as long as he behaves. If he lays _one finger_ on you, I'll personally come down there and wring his neck."

"Brockton!" Emily reprimanded, her eyes flashing indignantly, "Enough!"

"Fine," he said irritably, shifting the transmission into park as he stopped in front of the airport. Emily leaned over and kissed his cheek – which he returned – before climbing out and gathering her things, Katie at her side.

"They're touchy about this, aren't they?" Katie observed dryly.

Rolling her eyes, Emily responded, "You have no idea."

Katie grinned and slung an arm around Emily's shoulder. "Well, you can forget about it. Let's go catch our flight out of here."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Well? Tell me what you people think! Reviews make me happy. Otherwise, I might take a little longer than last time to update. _**>:)**


	9. Home Again

The trip to New Zealand was uneventful and both Emily and Katie breathed a deep sigh of relief and happiness as they stepped out of the plane into the crisp, misty air. When they finally climbed out of the plane into Antarctica's negative-twenty-degree weather, they knew they were home. "I've forgotten how much I love this place," Emily sighed.

Captain Mitchell greeted them both warmly – Emily especially – and turned over their bunkhouse keys. "I'll need you both early tomorrow morning to help get all the summer teams out to their posts," he informed them before walking away. Emily cast a sidelong glance at Katie, smiling broadly. She had missed Captain Mitchell and all his gruff formality.

When they finally entered the bunkhouse that belonged to them, both girls sighed happily. Emily tossed her things on the floor and sank gratefully into the well-worn couch, sprawling herself comfortably along its length. Katie grinned at her and threw one of her bags at her. "C'mon Em, we've got some unpacking to do," she growled affectionately.

Grumbling good-naturedly, Emily got to her feet and followed Katie down the hallway, veering left to her room while Katie veered right. She haphazardly tossed her clothes in her dresser and spread her sheets over the naked bed. Then she unloaded her share of personal hygiene items – only mascara, foundation, and a little blush (plus refills for each) and her hair needs – in the bathroom cupboard. Contrary to her first belief, mascara was a necessity in the Antarctic, as it served a similar function to the black lines under football players' eyes in deflecting the dazzling sunlight. She finished and leaned into Katie's room, tapping lightly on the door. "You ready?"

Spinning around, Katie exclaimed, "You're done already?"

"You know me," she retorted dryly, "Unpacking is easy – just throw it where it goes."

Katie laughed. "I know, I know. Hold tight for a few minutes, I'm almost done."

Emily grinned and went to the kitchen to survey their food supply. They had plenty of vacuum-sealed freeze-dried dinners, but sadly lacked in good, fresh food. "There's nothing good to eat in here," she groaned so Katie could hear.

"We're in charge of the first food shipments, Em," Katie called from her room, "One of those will be for our set of bunkhouses, you know that."

"Of course I did," Emily said, appearing back at the door to Katie's room. "But that's _your_ first shipment… I've got to take the crews to Victoria and Gretchen first. Didn't you check the roster, Kate?"

"Must have slipped my mind," she said airily. Her smile was a little forced at the mention of Victoria, which prompted Emily's curiosity.

"Speaking of Victoria, how are you and Jerry getting on? Are you two still wincing at the sight of each other?" she asked, watching her friend closely.

"We're friends," Katie said in a strained voice. "It's awkward still, but better than it was. It was almost a nightmare to go to Victoria without you around these last two seasons. I'm glad you're back."

"Mmm hmm," Emily murmured thoughtfully before returning to the kitchen to open and thaw something to eat for both of them.

"Hawkins!" Bryan Rice's voice rang out as she and Katie entered the hanger the next morning, dressed to the hilt in their fliers' uniforms. He waved and lifted the roster, pointing to what must have been her name. "You're back! Where have you been?" Emily grinned as Katie rolled her eyes. Bryan came out of the booth and leaned on the counter in front of it, eyeing both women flirtatiously. "So, did you ladies miss me?"

"Not at all," Emily responded, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "Get back on duty, Rice, before I report you to Captain Mitchell."

"Sassy as ever, Hawkins!" he grinned as he ducked out of reach and back into the booth, where he located the keys for both her and Katie. Turning business-like, he glanced at the roster. "Yamesch, you've got to fly about halfway back to New Zealand, where you'll meet the supply ship and pick up the preliminary equipment for the first few teams. Hawkins, you have two drops to make: Gretchen's crew is ready to go and Victoria's will be ready by tomorrow."

"Thanks, Rice," Emily said, taking her keys and jogging to catch up with Katie, who was already halfway to her plane.

Katie turned as she approached and grinned broadly. "It feels great to be back, doesn't it?"

"Wonderful," Emily agreed.

They gripped arms in farewell and Katie climbed into her plane, firing it up and preparing for flight. After waving goodbye, Emily turned and scanned the hanger for Gretchen's staff, spotting them at the entrance. Kurt Von Hammel, the captain of the team, waved vigorously when he recognized her. "Miz Hawkins! Eet haz been long time!" he called in a thick German accent.

"Yes it has," she agreed as she gripped his arm warmly. "Well," she said, turning to the rest of the crew, "we're ready to go, so just throw your stuff in the cargo hold and we'll be off."

The drop was a quick one: the weather was superb and the crews usually brought very little with them, since they expected to gather equipment and scientific samples throughout the season. Within a few hours, Emily had made it to Gretchen and helped the crew unload before beginning the twenty-five mile trip back home. As she pulled into the hangar, she recognized the chunky outline and silver hair of Victoria's research captain, Andy Harris. He greeted her warmly when she got out of her plane. "It's been a long time, Emily Hawkins," he rumbled in a mild New England accent tinted with a little of his British upbringing.

"Too long," she agreed with a smile. "When does the rest of the crew get in? I'm your ride out there."

Harris's eyes brightened with pleasure. "I'm glad you are – I've never been fond of some of the rough-and-tumble show-offy pilots we have around here. Charlie's already here, so is Rosie. Jerry gets in with the dogs tonight, I think."

"Good. That means we can leave sometime tomorrow morning," Emily mused aloud, "We can probably get out of here faster if you, Rosie, and Cooper load your things in the plane now and we'll put Jerry's stuff in when he arrives. Would you mind?"

"Not at all," Harris replied. "I'll go get them. Care to come with me?"

Emily spent the rest of the day helping Rosie, Cooper, and Andy organize their belongings in the plane's cargo hold – ensuring room for eight Siberian Huskies was no picnic. When Katie's plane touched down around seven o' clock that evening, they had just finished. To Emily's surprise, Jerry climbed out of the plane after Katie, followed by Maya, Shorty, Shadow, Truman, Dewey, Old Jack, Buck, and a new black-and-white pup she didn't recognize.

"Hey," Jerry hailed cheerily as he clasped her hand and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey yourself," she responded into his coat, "I didn't expect you until tomorrow!"

"Yeah, well, plans change," he said quietly, so that only she could hear, "I wanted to fly here with Katie." His eyes looked sad.

Emily nodded in understanding and pulled him into another quick hug before turning to embrace Katie. "How was your flight?" she whispered.

"Tense," Katie replied tersely.

Deciding to drop the issue, Emily gave her friend a small smile and turned to Cooper, Jerry, Andy and Rosie. "Well, since we're all here, let's get Jerry's stuff in the plane and I can drop you guys off tonight."

"Hawkins!" Captain Mitchell called, crossing the hangar to their group. He approached, nodded to Andy Harris, and eyed Emily sternly. "You know better than to fly at night."

Blushing faintly as Cooper and Jerry laughed lightly, Emily stepped between them and pulled Mitchell aside. "With all due respect, sir, I thought it wise to drop them off as soon as possible so that I can make it back in time to catch the bulk of incoming teams. There's still about three hours of good light left before nightfall. I can make it."

Captain Mitchell hemmed and hawed over her words for a moment. Finally he sighed. "Very well, I trust your abilities. But stay overnight at Victoria. I still don't want you flying back in pitch blackness, understand?"

"Yes, Captain," Emily acknowledged, saluting him respectfully, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said gruffly, casting a glance between her, Katie, Jerry and Cooper with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

Emily took a deep breath and returned to her friends, grinning broadly. "Okay, we can leave tonight, let's get the dogs inside."

Katie hugged Emily briefly. "Goodnight, Em, I'm going back to the bunkhouse."

"No, you're not," Emily said in a low voice as she caught her friend's arm and pulled her back. She cast a glance to make sure Jerry didn't notice them. "Just because you and Jerry have broken up, I won't let the friendships we all share fall apart. You two will have to learn how to get along while I'm around."

"Emily, your determination to make everything better is going to get you in trouble someday," Katie grumbled, but she remained to help anyway.

Emily nodded in satisfaction and approached the plane in time to help Maya jump up and to collect her kiss from Shadow. "Who's this?" she asked Jerry as the black-and-white husky vaulted up behind Maya.

"Max. He's in training now… he's taking Jesse's place…" Jerry's eyes fell. "I forgot to tell you that she died this summer. The strain finally took its toll on her."

"I'll miss her," Emily murmured. Jerry grunted in agreement, his throat closing up. Tactfully, Emily turned away and motioned for the others to get inside. Taking Jerry's arm, she wordlessly led him to the passenger seat. "Just don't touch any buttons, and you'll be fine in the co-pilot's seat," she told him as she climbed in to the pilot's seat and fired up the plane.

When they coasted to a stop, Cooper literally dove out of the plane, falling gratefully on the ground. With some amusement, Emily dropped to the packed snow and grinned. "Come on, Coope, my flying wasn't that bad. There weren't even any cross-currents up there."

"That's not the point," he gasped, "I just hate –"

"You hate flying. Yes, I know."

"Ah, ignore him, Em," Jerry said as he jumped out of the plane and walked around to the cargo hatch to let the dogs out, "He's just a big baby." He lifted the latch, allowing the dogs to push their way past him and stream out into the frigid dusky air.

Buck immediately pounced on Cooper's downed form, slobbering him with affectionate kisses, while Maya frisked around Jerry with the rest of the dogs. Andy Harris helped Rosie climb out of the plane and then he pulled out his keys to open the bunker and usher them inside. Emily assisted Jerry and Cooper in unloading the plane while Rosie made up the beds and pulled out some frozen dinners. Emily declined, having already eaten before she left, and went to change into her sleepwear – a thick pair of sweat pants and a fluffy sweatshirt – while the rest of the team ate. Afterward, she joined Jerry, Cooper and Old Jack for a traditional game of poker and did poorly, but with good humor. Deciding to finish the game early, they agreed to turn in for the night. Cooper bid them goodnight and went to his room, but Jerry beckoned Emily to help him tie the dogs for the night.

"So, about this summer," he began as he fastened Buck to the end of the chain "what happened? Your family wasn't exactly pleased with my being there."

"No," Emily agreed. "Mom was furious that I'd even invited you. And Brockton behaved no better."

"Why did you invite me?"

The question caught her off-guard. "What do you mean? I should think it would have been obvious. You are my friend, after all." She fastened the chain to Shorty's collar before moving down the line to Truman.

"Well, I guess I'm a little surprised that you would be so forward in front of your family. After all, you didn't invite just anyone you knew from here. Bryan Rice didn't come." He made the last observation with a hint of a grin. He paused for a minute before continuing with a tinge of warning in his tone, "If you want more than friendship, Em, you'll have to look somewhere else."

Taken aback, she straightened suddenly, startling Dewey and causing him to growl softly. "That's not what I meant by inviting you! I didn't mean for you to take it that way!"

"Okay then. No problem."

Slightly put off, Emily refrained any further comments and finished her work in silence, leaving Jerry to tie up Maya while she went back inside. Jerry had seemed a little too quick to jump to the conclusion that she wanted him back. _Ha!_ she thought to herself, _not likely!_ Still a little irked by their discussion, she prepared for bed in stony silence.


	10. Healing the Breach

**Chapter Ten: Healing the Breach**

After their discussion, Jerry seemed to forget the whole thing and never brought it up again, something for which Emily was deeply grateful. They saw little of each other for the rest of the season since Emily's schedule did not permit visits. Katie remained reluctant to go to Victoria, which resulted in Emily forgoing some of her chances to visit Jerry and Cooper in order to stay with her best friend. One night, as they were sitting in the main room reading over the weekly status report of bush pilots, Emily broached the subject for what seemed to her the millionth time. "Are you _sure_ you don't want to come with me, Katie? I have a drop to make to Victoria and I'd appreciate it if you'd come along. What are you going to do anyway?"

"I'll keep busy," Katie replied noncommittally, her brown eyes fixed on the papers in front of her as she thumbed through the advance weather forecast.

"It's not healthy to stay cooped up in here all the time," Emily responded gently, setting aside the sheaf of papers she'd been browsing through. "And no, flying on missions doesn't count as 'getting out' either. You need a break, time to relax."

"Going to Victoria is not exactly what I'd define as 'relaxing', Em," Katie replied with some irritation.

Emily snorted. "And you'd rather go to a base where you don't know anyone? Even if you can't stand Jerry – and don't lie to me, I know you still like him," she added sternly. "Even if you didn't like Jerry, I think it's rude to ignore Andy, Rosie and Cooper after all they've done to make us feel at home there."

"I think they'll understand," Katie retorted.

Emily stared at her friend for a minute before lowering her eyes. "It hurts me, too, Kate."

Katie's brown eyes snapped to Emily's face, surprised by this confession. "What do you mean?"

"Think how many times in the last few months I've stayed here to be with you instead of going to visit Victoria – where my only real friends down here besides you happen to be– and yet, not once have you consented to come with me to do something I want to do. Victoria's not the same without you, Katie, even if you and Jerry are… at odds with each other."

Katie sighed. "Look, Em, I'm really sorry, okay? I just can't deal with it… it's too awkward."

"Tell me the truth, then," Emily challenged, "Do you still care about Jerry? Is _that_ why you don't want to go back?"

Sighing resignedly, Katie said tremulously, "I should know better than to try to conceal anything from you. It's been almost two years, and yet I _still_ go weak at the knees whenever he looks at me. My heart aches whenever I see him flirting with another girl – even you." Then, catching the indignant look in Emily's eyes, she added, "and don't fire some snappy comeback – you both flirt with each other… or at least appear to." Suddenly she cursed and said, "I'm a twenty-six-year-old woman acting like a lovesick fourteen-year-old! I should be mature enough to deal with this rationally!"

With great difficulty, Emily managed to contain her smile. "I don't know about _mature_… but I can tell you're trying to be rational. Personally, I think you're beating your head against a brick wall, here," she said, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. "You can only fight your feelings for so long, Kate."

"You're not helping!" Katie growled, though she too, had a hint of a smile playing around her mouth.

Emily smirked and asked again, "So, will you come with me? If nothing else, we can spend some time teasing Cooper and I'll see if I can't humiliate Jerry for you."

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Katie asked quizzically. When Emily shook her head, she sighed. "Fine. I'll go. But do Jerry a favor and allow him to keep the little amount of dignity he has. I don't want to hurt him."

Grinning like the Mad Hatter, Emily replied, "What dignity? A man who dumps the prettiest girl in Antarctica because he's too daft to realize what he's got doesn't deserve any respect."

"Emily!" Katie cried in mock outrage, "Watch your tongue!" She wadded up an old weather report and aimed it at Emily's head, though it missed by a sizeable margin when the redhead flinched away.

In retaliation, Emily whipped off her fuzzy slippers and launched them consecutively at her friend, who caught one and dodged the other. A few minutes and a short tussle later, both girls looked a little the worse for wear, but were grinning broadly, the tense mood of the morning forgotten.

* * *

Emily knew Katie would never admit it, but her Native American friend really did enjoy being back at Victoria. Jerry had gone out of his way to be a little more gracious and gentlemanly towards both of them during their visit and he even refrained from his usual tradition of retelling his adventures out on the ice shelves. There was still a little tension there, but on the whole, Emily thought the whole evening had gone rather well. That night, after Rosie had fallen asleep, Emily was just dozing off when she heard Katie coming back from the bathroom. A deeper, masculine voice murmured something and, after a moment's consideration, she identified it as Jerry's.

"Sorry, Katie, I didn't see you there," he murmured.

"Oh no, don't worry about it, I didn't mean to get in your way," Katie's rushed reply came in a whisper barely audible to Emily. The door opened slightly as Katie pressed on it and Emily snapped her eyes shut, feigning sleep.

"Why haven't you come out very often?" Jerry asked, a measure of hurt evident in his voice. "You used to come out more often than Emily, but this is the first time I've seen you out here this season. And she's been coming at least once a month."

The door swung closed again as Katie stepped back out into the hall. "I…I…I've been busy. You know, other things to do that demanded my attention."

"Mmm hmm," Jerry replied skeptically. Emily could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't believe her. _Let's face it,_ she thought inwardly, _Katie's a horrible liar. He can see right through her._ But apparently Jerry decided not to call her bluff. Instead, he simply bade her goodnight and a click of a door announced his disappearance into the bathroom.

* * *

After that visit, Katie loosened up around Jerry and they began to joke and tease once more. However, Emily noticed a certain distancing on Jerry's part. There was something in his eyes that told her he was moving on, just as he had with her, and throwing up walls to safeguard his heart. There was nothing she could do about it, though, so she ignored it and treated both Jerry and Katie the same as she always had.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_This chapter was a little tricky, because I realized halfway through that Jerry and Katie's attitudes towards each other weren't in line with the canon, so there's a little bit of a switch here, where Katie starts to realize that she still cares about Jerry, while Jerry starts to block it out. Let me know if it's a little rocky... I doubt it's the highest caliber chapter I've ever written._

_Digital cookies and milk for you reviewers! Want more? You know there's that little, oh-so-cute button on the bottom of this screen that says: "Review"! Easy as pie!_


	11. Surprise Mission

**Chapter Eleven: Surprise Mission**

A sharp rap on the door caused Emily to look up from her packing. Without further hesitation, Captain Mitchell stepped in and surveyed her and Katie – who was sitting on the sofa, scanning through the rosters – with a keen eye. "I need one of you to make a drop at Victoria within the hour. We have a Doctor McClaren who needs to gather some research material out there. You two are my best available fliers, even if you aren't the fastest. You'll need to stay out there until he's done, and then fly back in time to prepare for the end-of-the-season routine."

"Sir," Emily said, straightening, "I have to make a trip to the British station today, but Katie is free."

Captain Mitchell's pale blue eyes swung to rest on Katie. "Very well. Within the hour, Yamesch."

"Yessir," she replied, saluting smartly. He nodded, satisfied, turned on his heel, and left without any further fanfare. When the door shut behind him, Katie turned to Emily, a puzzled look in her brown eyes. "That's strange… the season's almost over. I'd assumed that the next trip out there would be to pick up the crew and bring them home. This Dr. McClaren must be very important."

"Or very well-funded," Emily added wryly. "Andy's not going to be happy about this, that's for sure." She threw another pair of pants into her duffel bag and stepped back to survey her handiwork. "Well, I'm packed. C'mon Kate, let's get your stuff together."

Their bunkhouse was a flurry of activity as they threw together everything both she and Katie might need. Fortunately for both of them, they each kept a set of overnight things set aside for cases such as this, so most of their time was used getting a few days' extra gear for Katie. Within fifteen minutes, their task was complete and they were out the door, locking it behind them. Emily grabbed her snowmobile and swung onto it, while Katie did the same beside her and they tore off through the soft, powdery snow.

* * *

"Hawkins! Yamesch!" Bryan Rice hailed with his familiar greeting as they pulled in and approached him.

Katie alternately glanced at him and scanned the hangar. "Where's Dr McClaren?"

"You can't miss him. He's over there by your plane… in the neon yellow coat."

"That's not neon yellow, Rice," Emily commented as her eyes picked out the yellow-clad figure standing by Katie's plane. She could see Bryan's point, though. The vivid color stood out boldly amidst the more muted reds and blues worn by the McMurdough staff. Hiding a grin of amusement, she followed Katie over to greet him.

"I'm Katie Yamesch," Katie said, extending her hand for him to shake, "and you must be Dr. McClaren."

"Davis McClaren," he replied in a cultured, well-mannered tone. "I'm pleased to meet you. I was told that you were to be my pilot."

"You were told right," Katie affirmed before turning to introduce Emily. "Dr. McClaren, this is Emily Hawkins, my best friend and fellow bush pilot. She'll be making a trip to Elisabeth – that's the British station," she clarified quickly, "so she won't be accompanying us. That's her plane right there." She pointed to the newer, sleeker model to the left of her plane.

Emily extended her hand and shook the doctor's firmly. "So what is it you do, Dr. McClaren?" she asked politely.

"I'm a professor at UCLA and a member of the NSF. I'm here on a _confidential_ report of some existing meteorites that may prove invaluable to the scientific community."

"Interesting," Emily murmured, intrigued. Katie also appeared curious, but the special emphasis he'd placed on the word 'confidential' made it clear that he would say no more on the subject, especially to a pair of lowly bush pilots. "Well," she said, clearing her throat, "I need to go. I'm expected in Elisabeth by sunset tonight." She hugged Katie quickly and inclined her head toward Dr. McClaren. "It was nice to meet you, sir. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you, I'm sure I shall," he replied warmly.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Dun dun dun! Cliffie! On a movie note: the next chapter follows Emily to Elisabeth, rather than showing what takes place at Victoria, which - of course - is in the movie. So, on to the next chapter! And don't forget to drop a review off on your way!_


	12. A Staggering Blow

**Chapter Twelve: A Staggering Blow**

The trip to Elisabeth was uneventful and Emily found herself wishing that she could have gone to Victoria with Katie. She only had to drop off a few last-minute supplies for Elisabeth to stem them over until the end of the season. Since she had arrived late in the evening, she slept over in the room vacated by one of the male personnel and was wakened by Connor, the base's rather attractive young scientist. "Miss Hawkins? You have a call from McMurdough," he told her in a gentle Scottish accent.

"I'm up," she growled, tossing her pillow on the floor and kicking off her covers. As she sat up, she ran a hand through her hair to make it lay flat and smooth again, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Connor.

"You look lovely, Miss Hawkins," he said with a smile. "But hurry: a Captain Mitchell would like to speak with you."

Embarrassed and flattered, Emily yanked on a sweatshirt over her lighter sleepwear and followed him out into the common room, blinking groggily in the sudden light. Connor led her to the communications booth and handed her the headset. She nodded her thanks to him and turned her attention to the other end of the line. "This is Emily Hawkins," she said, resting one hand on the side of the booth as she felt herself become more fully awake.

"Hawkins?" Captain Mitchell's gruff voice crackled over the line. "Where have you been?"

Fighting to keep a grin out of her voice at his gruffness, she replied, "Sleeping, sir."

"Yes, well, don't expect an apology," he said brusquely. "How soon can you get everyone out of there?"

Emily glanced up inquiringly at Aaron Connelly, the base's leader. "How soon can you get everyone out of here?" she mouthed to him.

He computed quickly in his head and said, "Everyone is present and accounted for. If we work efficiently, we'll be able to make it out by tomorrow morning."

She nodded briefly and spoke again into the headset, "I can get everyone out by tomorrow morning, sir."

"Good," came the gruff reply. "I want you and the British team back at McMurdough as quickly as possible. There are a couple of massive low-pressure systems moving in and the first one is likely to hit the coast within the week. Just get everyone out of there and report to me when you arrive. McMurdough out." The comm. crackled and went silent.

One of the scientists approached Emily and pressed a bowl of hot oatmeal into her hands. "'Ere," she said in a heavy Yorkshire accent, "Eat up, miss. Ye'll need your strength."

However, Emily was too anxious to get back to McMurdough and check for Katie. She wolfed down her breakfast and joined in the effort to get all the gear packed. There followed a dizzying flurry of activity as everyone rushed to collect and safely package samples, store food, and stow personal belongings. Fortunately, only four people were stationed at Elisabeth and the plane's cargo hold could take everything in one trip.

By that evening, Emily fell gratefully into bed and slept a deep, dreamless sleep until Connor shook her awake again. "Miss Emily, it's time to go," he said.

Groaning groggily, she rolled over and checked her watch. "Six in the morning? You're nuts," she grumbled as she dropped her head back down on the pillow again. "Wake me in four hours."

Connor laughed. "You know we can't fly the plane without you, Miss Emily, but so help me, Aaron and I will drag you out there by your toes if you're not up in ten minutes."

"You Brits are pushy, aren't you?" she growled, lifting her head to look at him.

"Not all of us ma'am, just the brilliant young scientists."

"Hmm," she grunted as she flicked back her covers and got up. Connor left and she hurriedly changed and stuffed her last few belongings in her coat pockets and entered the common room.

"The wind's picking up a bit," the meteorologist announced, "But then, we're a lot closer to this bloody storm than McMurdough is."

"Don't worry about it, I'll _try_ to get you guys back to base in one piece," Emily said as she crossed the room and scooped up an energy bar.

"Well, that's reassuring," Aaron Connelly remarked dryly, entering behind her.

* * *

The flight itself was rough on the passengers and more than a little draining on Emily's nerves as she juggled one slipstream after another. Twice, she nearly lost control of the plane, but eventually, she guided it safely to the McMurdough runway and into the hangar. They debarked the plane into the warm, welcoming arms of the ground crew and medical personnel.

As soon as she was cleared of hypothermia or any other cold-related condition, Emily sought out Captain Mitchell and eventually found him in the weather tracking center, overseeing the orders to evacuate. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Ah," he said, spinning around, "Hawkins. Report?"

"All personnel evacuated, sir. We returned without mishap."

"Very good, that is one more base evacuated," he said, apparently satisfied.

"Sir?" Emily asked tentatively, "If you don't mind my asking… Katie? Is she back yet?"

"Yamesch?" The officer thought for a moment. "I don't recall Victoria's status. You may radio her, Hawkins, in that terminal there," he told her, pointing.

"Thank you, sir," Emily said gratefully. She approached the radio transmitter and picked up the mouthpiece, pressing the signal to hail Victoria's station. "Victoria, this is McMurdough base, checking in for a status report, over?" Silence crackled over the line. "Victoria, this is Emily. Katie, are you there? Come in, over?"

More silence, then, "Emily?" It was Katie's voice.

"Katie! Why are you still there? You have to get out! Didn't Captain Mitchell warn you about the storms? You have to get everyone out now!"

"We can't, Em." Even over the static of the intercom, Emily could hear the quaver in her friend's voice. "Jerry's still out in the field with Doctor McClaren."

Feeling as though she'd just been hit in the stomach with a sledgehammer, she managed to ask in a shaky voice, "Jerry's still out in that?" She pulled the mouthpiece away from her face and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Is he all right?"

"We don't know. We contacted him yesterday and he said he was on his way, but when I tried to radio him this morning, I got nothing, not even static."

"Are you coming back?" Emily asked as her stomach seemed to drop down to her toes, "Without him?"

"No," Katie said firmly. "We're staying here until we find him. We'll just hole up until the storms pass."

"Katie, you can't." Emily felt the energy drain out of her at the thought of Katie and the rest of the Victoria stafftrying to wait out those enormous storm systems. "They've… they've cancelled the winter teams. No one's coming in or out after the second storm hits. You won't have enough food to survive out there for the whole winter."

"Then we'll have to trust that he'll make it back. He knows of the storm at least," Katie said in a strangely over-bright voice. "Pray for us, Em. Victoria out."

"But –" Emily began, only to be cut off by the end of the transmission. Dejectedly, she laid the mouthpiece down and moved away from the communications terminal, her hand shielding her watery eyes from view.

* * *

Captain Mitchell had overheard enough of the conversation to determine the reason for Emily's reaction and he knew her well enough to know that the best way to get her mind off something was to put her to work. Adopting a gentleness of tone he'd never used with her, he instructed her to get something hot to drink and then to start helping the maintenance crews load the heavy crates into the massive holds of the cargo planes. He also told her that she was scheduled for the fourteen-hundred-hour flight to New Zealand the next day and to ready her gear before then. She nodded numbly in acknowledgement of his instructions and then went to work, attacking her tasks with a zeal and ferocity that left him suitably impressed.

Even though he appreciated her drive to work hard, he was the father of a now-married daughter and understood a little of the inner stress she was struggling to deal with. He didn't know how deeply she cared for the people at Victoria, but, after watching the blood drain from her face as she talked to her closest friend, Katie Yamesch, he had no doubts that the loss of one of the staff was a hard blow for her to take. After supper rations were distributed, he approached her and ordered her to return to her quarters and pack her own things. She was just about to obey when the communications officer leaned out of his terminal.

"Is an Emily Hawkins here?" he called.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Ha ha ha! Yay for cliffies! By the way: for those of you who don't know, fourteen-hundred hours is standard military time - directly translated, it's about two o' clock in the afternoon. Thought you might want to know. Reviews Please!_


	13. Safe Return

**Chapter Thirteen: Safe Return**

Emily whipped around on her heel, instantly charged with energy and anxiety. Hastily dropping her coat and gloves unceremoniously on the floor, she sprinted across the room to the communications booth. "What is it? Is it Victoria?" she gasped breathlessly. The sergeant nodded briefly and offered her the headset, which she snatched with trembling hands, as though she feared that the transmission might end if she didn't move fast enough. "Hello?" she tried, but it came out as a hoarse croak. She cleared her throat and tried again, "Hello?"

"Emily?" Katie's voice crackled over the line.

"Katie!" Emily cried, nearly jumping out of her skin in relief, "Are you all right? Did you find Jerry? Is he –?"

"He's back, Em. I'm transmitting from the plane's radio," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "We'll touch down in about an hour." Emily felt the skin on the back of her neck prickle. Something about that carefully emotionless voice seemed wrong.

"Katie? What's wrong? What happened?" She paused, hardly daring to ask the next question, "Is anyone hurt?"

"There was… there was an accident, Em," Katie's voice now shook with worry and strain over the static of the intercom. "The doctor fell through the ice and broke his leg. He's in critical condition."

"And Jerry?"

"Fine, not injured. But… he's very sick. He's been coughing violently ever since we got him inside and he has level two, possible level three frostbite on the tips of his fingers. He passed out about five minutes after we got him on the plane." She was quiet for a minute, letting the news sink in, then she added, "Meet us in the hangar."

"I'll be there," Emily immediately affirmed, "Be careful, Katie."

* * *

The hour's wait was, for Emily, agonizing as she restlessly paced the hangar. The brisk wind – always chilly – was blowing through the open hangar doors with a little more bite than usual and the temperature gage read about fifteen degrees below normal. The storms were moving in. Emily ached to think of Jerry and the Doctor being caught out in even the fringes of the oncoming storms. How they had made it back through the swirling snow was a miracle yet to be explained, yet, Emily could not stop herself from being sure that Maya was the reason Jerry had made it back alive.

* * *

Finally the thrum of propellers reached her ears and she threw on her hat and scarf to rush outside with the rest of the ground crew to greet the plane. It glided smoothly to a stop and Katie promptly killed the engine before leaping out and being gathered into the arms of the medical personnel. Cooper threw his door open and gratefully stumbled into Emily's welcoming arms, his fear of flying intensified by the rough, wild ride he'd just been through. Unwilling to be deterred from her main goal, Emily quickly steadied him, transferred him to the arms of a waiting nurse and hopped into the plane to help Andy and Rosie out. Doctor McLaren lay prone on an improvised stretcher, swaddled tightly in many layers of blankets. Even from her standing position over him, she could hear the shallow rasping of his breath through half-frozen lungs. Allowing herself to be nudged aside by the staff, she watched carefully as the medics gently pulled the stretcher out of the plane and carried him to the base's infirmary. Her eyes then shifted to Jerry's deathly still form, leaning against the far window. His hands were heavily bandaged and a hot pack was pressed to his chest and neck in an obvious effort to ease the cough Katie had told her about. 

"Excuse me, Miss Hawkins," one of the paramedics cleared his throat and gestured toward Jerry, "but we need to move him immediately." Emily nodded numbly and stepped aside as they carefully pulled Jerry out of the plane and laid him on a stretcher to be wheeled to the infirmary.

As they rolled swiftly away, Emily turned back to Katie, who was just waving off any medical attention. They pulled each other into a tight embrace, and Emily murmured in a shaky voice, "I'm glad you're back, Kate. I was going crazy with worry."

Katie hugged her back for a moment before pulling sharply away. "We don't have much time," she said urgently, "I promised Jerry I'd go back for the dogs as soon as I got here."

"You _left_ them!" Emily cried.

"There wasn't room for them and everything else. But I have to hurry." Katie was already beginning to climb back in the cockpit of the plane.

"I'm coming with you," Emily said firmly, starting around to the other side of the plane.

"Neither of you is going anywhere," Captain Mitchell commanded gruffly, seeming to materialize from nowhere. "The skies are closed. Only the planes flying to New Zealand will be allowed to leave."

"But sir," Katie objected, her brown eyes flashing, "the dogs, they'll die if we don't go back. We have to –"

"That's an order, Yamesch," Captain Mitchell responded tartly, "No one flies." He eyed them both as they reluctantly climbed down from the cockpit to stand meekly in front of him, then he nodded in satisfaction. "You'd best get your gear in order – you're both to fly out by the end of the week. Hawkins, you're rescheduled to a later flight in light of the present state of your friends. I will allow you to stay until the end of this week, but no later." With that, he turned and strode away, issuing orders to the ground crews as he departed.

Emily watched him go, steaming, while Katie spun furiously and slammed her clenched fists against the solid steel hull of the plane. "He can't do this!" she cried in frustration. "He can't just sentence eight dogs to death because he doesn't want us to fly there and back! He knows we could make it!" Still in a rage, she stalked away to try and gain access to a plane from another source.

Silent, Emily remained by the plane, fuming. Then, on a sudden intuition, she made a decision – one that would probably get her fired for insubordination and stealing. Katie's keys were still in the ignition and she hurriedly popped open the hatch door. Just as she was about to climb up, a shout went up and suddenly, Bryan Rice had a firm grip around her waist, pulling her back. "No, Emily, no!" he cried, gritting his teeth as she kicked him in the shins.

"Let me go, Bryan!" she growled menacingly, barely registering their sudden use of each other's first names. Strong as she might have been though, Bryan was stronger. Almost effortlessly, he caught her shoulders and pressed her against his chest, pinioning her arms at her side, where she was helpless to fight back.

"There are better ways to do this," Bryan grunted as she struggled against his hold. "Do you really want to give your career up for a few dogs?"

"Let me go, Bryan, or so help me…" she trailed off, letting her threat die on her lips. There was nothing she could do to him at present. He was a trained military officer and considerably stronger than she. Sighing resignedly, she sagged in his grip. "Who told you to watch me?"

Bryan smiled slightly. Sensing she would cooperate, he loosed his grip and allowed her to turn around and face him. "Captain Mitchell thought that one of you might try something like this, so he had me keep an eye on the planes – and you two – until you both left. It seems he calculated correctly." He looked down at her, more serious than she'd ever seen him. "Look, Hawkins, I don't know why this matters so much to you. If it was Shepard, I would understand. But you?"

Passing a weary hand over her eyes, Emily sighed. "Don't worry about it. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I care so much, either." Wordlessly, she pushed herself away from him and walked away, pulling her snowmobile keys out of her pocket as she went. When she got home, she fell into her bed, feeling all the stress and shock of the day crashing down on her and sending her careening into the oblivion of sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_So? How was it? Emily's emotions are a little hard to portray, because she's torn between loyalty to Katie and Jerry, love for the dogs, and a desire to keep her job. Mainly this chapter shows how she can be hotheaded and impulsive, but when Bryan gives a reality check, she comes out of it a little confused.If it's not the greatest, my apologies. Don't forget to review! Constructive crit is more than welcome... flamers will be laughed at. Praise earns little digital cookies! _


	14. The Fight

**Chapter Fourteen: The Fight**

When Emily awoke the next morning and checked in with the McMurdough staff in the main building, she learned that Jerry was up and practically tearing the place apart to find someone who would take him back for his dogs. She prowled around, looking for him and Katie, whom she hadn't heard leaved that morning. She finally heard their voices in the wing of dorms on the west end of the building.

"No," Jerry's voice said, thick with anger and accusation, "Sometimes you just have to lower your expectations of other people."

Silence greeted his statement as Emily moved closer, aware that it would be unwise to barge in on their conversation. Finally Katie responded in a voice tart with hurt, "You know what, Jerry? I'm sorry, I really am, but there's nothing I can do." Her footsteps echoed swiftly as she stormed out of the room and ran right into Emily. "He expects _me_ to find some way to go back there," she growled in a low voice as she tossed her hair in annoyance. "It's not like I haven't done everything I could. He's blaming _me_ for this, Em!" she said in frustration, still keeping her voice down so Jerry wouldn't hear. Then she threw her hands up and shook her head. "You go see if you reason with him, Emily, because nothing I'm saying is getting through. I can't deal with him accusing me anymore."

Heaving a sigh as her friend marched away, Emily slowly entered the room, tapping lightly on the door to announce her presence. He looked up, his blue eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion, and shoved another folded set of pants in his bag with heavily bandaged hands. She leaned against the doorframe, eyeing him for a moment before saying quietly, "You shouldn't speak to Katie like that, Jer, not after everything she's already done for you."

"You're defending her, then?" Jerry asked angrily.

Emily's green eyes narrowed a little. "Of course. That's what friends do. You know I'd do the same for you."

"You're doing one heck of a job right now," he muttered.

She straightened suddenly, her eyes flashing. "I'm doing as much as I can, Jerry. Bryan Rice had to drag me away from the planes to keep me from going, and Captain Mitchell set someone to keep tabs on Katie to keep _her_ from attempting the same thing. And I'm here, aren't I? Trying to offer what comfort I can."

"Yeah, well, it's not helping," Jerry observed coldly.

"What do you want me to do! I'm sorry that I didn't tear this place to shreds trying to get back. I'm sorry that I care enough about _my_ career to exercise some restraint. You once said that you didn't expect Katie to give up her career for you, and I assumed you meant the same for me. Do you realize that's what you're asking us to do, Jerry?" She stopped speaking to take a deep breath and clamp down on her temper. If she allowed herself to continue, she might end up saying something she'd regret. Jerry stared up at her from his seat on the floor with his mouth open in surprise – he obviously had not expected this outburst on her part. "Now," she continued, forcing her voice down, "if you want to be ungrateful for everything that _has_ been done to recover the team, that's your problem. But don't take it out on the rest of us." With that, she turned and strode out the door, leaving Jerry staring in shock at the spot where she'd stood.

* * *

**Author's Note:**_ Sorry it's a short chapter, but the next one will skip ahead to a few months after they all go home to the States, so it didn't really fit anywhere but on it's own. And don't worry, reconciliation is inevitable. :) REVEIW PLEASE! I LOVE IT WHEN YOU DO!_


	15. Summer Reunions

**Chapter Fifteen: Summer Reunions**

Neither Emily nor Katie saw much of Jerry after that. He set about trying to get back to Victoria, while the two pilots were kept occupied by orders from Captain Mitchell that had to be obeyed in order to set up the evacuation system. In light of the oncoming storms, it was small wonder that their arguments went unresolved.

* * *

Once she'd arrived home, however, Emily took it upon herself to write Jerry and let him know that she understood and would try to help if she could. Then she went about her normal life. She went back to school to finish her degree in animal psychology, wondering ruefully if she'd ever get her master's since she was always taking semester courses sporadically whenever she was at home. Katie dropped by for a few visits occasionally and, on her last visit, updated her on how Jerry was doing. 

Apparently, he'd traveled the country for the first couple of months of summer, trying to find someone who'd be willing to finance a return trip, he even attempted to convince the media that it would make an interesting story, but all to no avail. "He's back at his place in Oregon, teaching nine-year-olds how to kayak," Katie said, grinning as she finished her update.

Emily leaned back into the sofa on which she sat and smiled in response. "That's hardly something I could picture Jerry doing," she remarked. Her eyes strayed to the exquisite Irish setter dashing about in the backyard with Brockton. "So you took Brandi to see him? What did he think?"

"He didn't say too much," Katie acknowledged. "I think he was thinking more about _his_ dogs than mine. I understand though," she continued hastily, afraid that Emily might make some snide remark about him caring too much about his dogs.

Giving her friend a gentle, sympathetic smile, Emily said quietly, "I wasn't going to say anything, Kate." Her eyes brightened mischievously as she suddenly changed the subject. "Did you tell him about your new boyfriend? How'd he take it?"

"What do you mean?" Katie asked suspiciously. "He didn't seem too upset by it and he made a few snide remarks about Brad being a train driver instead of a computer engineer. How else did you expect him to react?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emily said airily, stretching luxuriously. "Jealous, maybe?"

"Oh stop it, Em!" Katie scolded, her eyes flashing good-naturedly, "You're not helping me get over him by tossing out all these 'he still cares' hints! What clue do you have that he even cares anymore? You haven't seen him!"

"All right, all right, I digress," Emily laughed. She sobered suddenly. "Does Brad know what's going on? I don't think he'd like it if he knew you were only dating him to get your mind off a certain survival expert from Antarctica."

"No, I haven't told him, and I don't intend to," Katie cut in defiantly. "I like Brad, and I don't want to hurt him."

"Speaking of Brad," Emily said swiftly and placatingly, sensing that Katie was likely to launch into a long-winded, mostly meaningless explanation about how much she really did like Brad, "When am I going to meet him?"

"What?" Katie seemed momentarily disconcerted by the sudden change in the direction of the conversation. "Oh, I forgot to tell you…"

"You're engaged to him?" Emily inserted teasingly.

Katie gave her friend and dirty look. "Very funny, Em. No, I was going to say that I've been invited to a special banquet for Dr. McLaren. Apparently he's receiving some kind of award for the discovery he made down in Antarctica. He doesn't know you very well, of course, but he's grateful for the assistance you gave him in McMurdough after his accident –"

"But I didn't really do anything," Emily interjected.

Sending her a scathing look, Katie continued, "Don't interrupt. He viewed it that way and you might as well be grateful for it. Anyway, he also remembered how warmly you greeted him and I told him how close you were to everyone at Victoria, so he asked me to extend his invitation to you as well. You're invited to come with me and Brad to the banquet."

Duly impressed, Emily leaned back. "So that means I have to dress up nice and everything, huh?" Katie nodded. "Well, I'm in. I could use a break from my schooling – even if I can't afford it – and it'll be nice to get away from Mom and Brockton's constant needling about Jerry."

* * *

The dinner was a grandiose affair, filled to capacity with ladies in elegant dinner gowns and men in tuxedos, carrying glasses of champagne and socializing with their colleagues. Emily felt distinctly out of place, despite her ivory ball gown, stilettos, and elegant twisted-up hair. Katie looked stunning in a sleek black mermaid gown with her long brown hair piled in luxuriant curls atop her head. Slipping between a couple of distinguished older men, Emily approached and clasped her friend's hands. "You look amazing!" Katie told her, leaning back to take in her friend's appearance. "Oh, Emily Hawkins, this is Brad Ingalls, Brad, this is my best friend from Antarctica." Emily quickly appraised the man standing beside Katie and admitted grudgingly to herself that he was indeed very attractive. He had slightly wavy dark hair, and his stormy grey eyes gazed intelligently out over his prominent, high cheekbones. He bowed graciously and lightly brushed her hand with his lips. 

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Hawkins," he said in a resonating tenor voice. His attention shifted to the man standing at the podium and indicating for the guests to take their seats. He turned back to Katie and offered his arm, at the same time, indicating that Emily go before him. He seated them both before sitting down beside Katie and accepting the proffered dish from their waiter. For the rest of the evening, he engaged Katie in conversation, once in a while directing a question at Emily, but leaving her in peace for the most part. After finishing her dessert, Emily allowed her attention to wander as she glanced over the other guests. She picked out Cooper, sitting next to an elegant blonde and vainly trying to get her attention; Andy Harris sitting beside Rosie, who chatted amicably with a woman on his other side whom Emily assumed to be his wife; and finally, she noticed Dr. McLaren standing beside the bar on the far side of the hall, talking to a towheaded, blue-eyed young man – Jerry. _So he _is_ here,_ Emily grinned inwardly, wondering if Katie had noticed. Swiftly excusing herself, she wove her way through the tables to the bar, where Dr. McLaren had left Jerry alone to fiddle with his glass, looking a little lonely. She cleared her throat, getting his attention.

He spun around. "Emily! I didn't know you were here!" He hastily put down his glass and hugged her quickly before holding her back at arm's length and looking her up and down. "Wow, you look fabulous!"

"You look pretty snazzy yourself," she replied, tugging playfully on the lapels of his tan dress jacket. "You're missing the tie, though," she teased.

"Yeah, well, I just dropped by to congratulate Davis. You know I'm not one for social gatherings." He shifted slightly from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. He stared absently across the room while Emily moved to seat herself on the barstool beside him, wordlessly declining any drink from the bartender. Jerry suddenly seemed to remember she was there and he turned to face her with a warm smile. "Well, I need to get going. It's been good to see you again." In a gentlemanly gesture that surprised her, he bent and brought her hand to his mouth. As he began to walk away, Emily suddenly jumped up and caught his arm.

"Aren't you going to let Katie know you're here?" she demanded. "She'd appreciate it, Jer, you know she would."

Shaking his head briskly, he replied, "She looks a little preoccupied with her boyfriend right now, and I'd rather avoid awkward introductions."

Still not releasing him, Emily stared at him. "Don't you care about her anymore?"

For a fraction of a second, she saw Jerry's guard go down and his eyes flashed a pained emotion, but before she could read into it, his face was smooth and expressionless again. "Of course I care about her. The same way I care about you. What was between us no longer exists and it's apparent that she's moved on."

"But –" Emily began.

"No, Emily," Jerry said firmly, gently removing her hand from his arm. "It's over. And it's not your place to try to fix it." Once again, as she stared hard at him, his mask slipped and a deep aching pain filled his eyes before he flicked his gaze away from her face.

_Liar,_ she seethed inwardly, _You still love her._ She wanted to scream. She wanted to grab him by the collar and holler in his face that Katie was only dating Brad to take her mind off him, that her best friend still sighed dreamily when his name was mentioned, that she could see in his eyes that he wasn't over her either. But she held back and contented herself with glaring reproachfully at his retreating back, knowing it would be useless to try to break down the wall Jerry had thrown around himself.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_So? What's that I hear? You want to review? Oh please, please do! You know where the little button is! _

_Oh, and I thought I might add a disclaimer, since this story is liberally sprinkled with custom-made characters... DISCLAIMER: All characters are property of Disney and the producers of Eight Below. Captain Mitchell, Bryan Rice, Brad, Emily, Jesse (the dog) Connor, and... um... anyone else mentioned at other bases... and the names "Yamesch" "Elisabeth" and "Gretchen" are products solely of my imagination, so flame me if you will for them, just don't sue me! JK, JK, I love you all and please review:)_

_Elena_


	16. The Phone Call

**Chapter Sixteen: The Phone Call**

"Emily!" Mrs. Hawkins called up the stairs, "There's someone here to see you!"

"Coming!" Emily responded from the bathroom as she dodged in to check her appearance. Deeming herself ready, she descended to the living room to find a tall, dark-haired man sitting and talking to her mother.

At her approach, he stood and bowed slightly. Mrs. Hawkins also stood. "Emily, honey," she said by way of introduction, "This is Jameson Tallent. I believe you know each other from your lit class?"

Now that she had a frame of reference, Emily could finally place his face. She sat a few rows behind him in her basic modern literature class and she'd always considered him rather stuffy and too smart for his own good. A typical California airhead. She betrayed none of these thoughts, however, as she put on a polite smile and extended her hand. "Mr. Tallent. Professor Engle's class, right?"

"The very same," he murmured, bringing her hand to his lips. "I've wanted to meet you personally for some time. You've grown on me quite a bit."

"Jameson told me that he would be interested in taking you to dinner sometime and wished to know when you were available," Emily's mother said, smiling broadly. She leaned forward and said in a low voice that only Emily could hear, "He's a nice boy and I thought he might take your mind off of that Shepard boy."

Emily bristled suddenly. "Mom, Jerry is twice the man this spoiled kid is. And I don't need to –"

"Em?" Brockton suddenly interrupted, leaning around the corner from the kitchen. When she turned to look at him, he held out the phone. "Someone wants to talk to you. A doctor McLarey or something."

Feeling a wave of relief that she'd been spared any further argument with her mother, Emily covered the distance between her and Brockton in a few strides. She pulled her brother around the corner. "Brock, you have to help me," she whispered urgently. "I don't want to date him; I don't want to see him. Scare him off if you can, please?"

Brockton said nothing. Instead, he glanced pointedly at the phone resting on the counter, waiting for her. "You still have to take that call, big sis," he said in a low voice.

Pursing her lips in frustration, she sent him a wrathful glance and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Emily Hawkins?" Dr. McLaren's voice inquired.

"This is she."

"Katie Yamesch told me to call you. She said you might be up for a little trip down south," he replied, hesitating ever so slightly on the last word.

Feeling a wave of suspicion, Emily quickly asked, "How _far_ south?"

"Oh," the doctor's voice came across dripping with casualness, "just to your old stomping grounds in Antarctica…"

"Are you _crazy?_!" Emily yelped, nearly dropping the phone. She'd expected those words since she heard who was calling, but hearing them directly from Dr. McLaren still shocked her. "It's the dead of winter!" Hearing this, Brockton looked up and glanced sharply out the window, where the sun poured its punishing heat on the parched brown grass in the back yard. His brows knitted in confusion, but he said nothing.

Dr. McLaren chuckled softly. "Yes, Miss Hawkins, it _is_ the dead of winter down there, but Jerry hasn't given us much choice. He's already down in New Zealand, looking to barter for passage across. He's going after the dogs."

"Of all the stupid, harebrained, _idiotic_ things to do," Emily growled feelingly. "He's a moron to go down there _alone_, what if something happens to him?"

"That's why _we're_ going down, Emily," Dr. McLaren pointed out. "Katie and Charlie have already agreed to meet me at the San Francisco airport tomorrow morning. They were both hoping you'd come with us."

This was her opportunity to skip out on Jameson, Emily realized suddenly. She had more than enough money saved away to cover the cost of the trip and she could pack and make the two-hour drive to Frisco tonight, spend the night in a motel, and meet the others in the morning. It was brilliant. "Of course I'll come," she said aloud into the phone. "What time does our flight leave?"

"Eleven 'o clock, on the dot," Davis McLaren told her. "We'll want to be there at around ten, though, so plan on it, okay? Thank you, Emily."

"Thank _you_," Emily returned sincerely before hanging up the phone. _Now to break it to Mom,_ Emily thought apprehensively. Rubbing her hands on her pants, she took a deep breath and stepped back into the front room.

Emily was not wholly surprised to see her mother on her feet, hands on hips and glaring reproachfully at her. Of course she'd listened in to the conversation. "Are you _seriously_ considering this, honey?" Mrs. Hawkins asked abruptly, in a dangerous tone. "I will not have you taking off who-knows-where after that-that-that _ruffian_."

"But…" Jameson put in, looking confused and distressed, "I thought we had a date!"

"You _are_ crazy, 'Mily," Brockton stated lazily. Of all the people in the room, he was the only one still sitting, comfortably sprawled across the overstuffed armchair.

Emily looked at each person in turn, weighing her words before responding to their comments. "First of all, Mom, it's not 'who-knows-where.' Antarctica is more my home than California is, and I know it like the back of my hand. And secondly, Jerry is _not_ a ruffian, or a jerk, or a boy, or any other disrespectful term you care to use on him. He's one of the best men I know."

"Then you obviously need a larger sampling, honey," her mother hissed, her green eyes – so like Emily's – flashing dangerously. "I think it's high time you spend time with a refined, cultured young man, not the rough-and-tumble military and risk-taking company you've been keeping for the past few years."

"Mom," Emily moaned in exasperation, "Mom, I'm _twenty-six_ for heaven's sake! I've been living totally on my own for almost eight years and now you think you can run my life again? I'm a bush pilot! It's in my blood, Mom! Remember Dad?" She knew she was treading on dangerous ground now – she could see it in her mother's eyes – but she _had_ to make her mother understand, once and for all. "I know you want to forget, Mom. Believe me, I really do understand. It's because of Dad's love for flying in the Far North that he's no longer with us, and you don't want anything to do with it anymore." She paused for a moment, feeling the tension in the room as Brockton stared at her with mouth hanging open and as Jameson's eyes bounced between her and her mother as though watching a tennis match. "But I do. This is the kind of thing that would make Dad's blood race. He loved to go in against impossible odds, just to prove that he could get out again. Even if I didn't care about Jerry the way I do, I would still do this. It's as much a part of me as my breath, Mom." She studied her mother for a moment before lowering her eyes slightly. "I'm sorry that it hurts you, I really am."

She started to turn away, then thought better of it and turned back, her eyes falling on Jameson. "Sorry to disappoint you, Jameson," she said gently, "But I didn't come back to California to fall in love. Or even to stay for very long. I'm just leaving a little sooner than expected. Believe me, there wouldn't have been time to get to know each other." She reached out and clasped his hand, shaking it firmly, then turned again to her mother. "I'm leaving tonight for San Francisco. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll write, I promise." For a long moment, she simply stood, staring at her mother. "I love you, Mom," she said at length, stepping forward to give her a quick embrace before going up to her room to pack.

**Author's Note: **_Hello to all my faithful readers! Sorry it took so long to update this story! I'd been working on a different one and it was going well, so I temporarily set this one aside rather than risk my good train of thought for the other one. But here is the next chapter. And thanks to all of you who PM'ed me and reviewed on my other stories to ask for this one to be updated. You have no idea how good that makes me feel. Thank you and don't forget to review!_


	17. Surprising Jerry

**Chapter Seventeen: Surprising Jerry**

Things flowed smoothly and quickly after the initial argument between Emily and her mother. Brockton had – surprisingly – taken her side and agreed that she should go to Antarctica, and eventually Mrs. Hawkins reconciled herself to the fact that Emily was leaving no matter what. Both helped Emily pack and Brockton even volunteered to drive her to the airport so that she wouldn't have to leave her car there. She spent the night in the motel across from the airport and woke up early to enjoy a light breakfast and to arrange her luggage how she wanted it. When she entered the terminal at ten thirty, she found Katie, Cooper, and Dr. McLaren waiting for her. They exchanged hugs all around and hurried to get on the plane.

Now, as she stepped out of the Christchurch airport into the brisk New Zealand air, Emily paused to take a deep, refreshing breath, feeling the cold air clear her lungs and tasting the tang of seawater on her tongue. Katie came up behind her. "I always miss New Zealand when I go home," Emily murmured so only her friend could hear. "I wish I could live here forever."

"Mm-hmm," Katie murmured agreeably. She slipped her arm through Emily's and glanced at Dr. McLaren and Cooper. "C'mon guys, let's find Jerry."

They wandered around Christchurch for an hour, poking into various bars and hotels, asking anyone if they'd met an American looking for passage to Antarctica. They met with little success, hearing once from a fisherman who had been approached by Jerry but the old man didn't know where Jerry went after he'd refused his request. There were similar stories from the other local fishermen, but none of them knew what had happened to Jerry after they'd turned him away. Emily felt a pang of sympathy for her longtime friend, knowing it must have been very hard for him to be turned away so many times. She could imagine his discouragement and the feeling intensified her determination to find him and give him the surprise of his life.

They approached a little bar near a shabby wharf, where countless beat-up fishing boats were shored for the winter season. The place looked so uninviting that Katie wrinkled her nose and made a move to go on. "I think we should check in here," Emily said, halting her friend's retreat with a hand on her arm. "We've looked everywhere else and I don't think Jerry has the kind of money to be hanging out in the ritzier places we've scoped out."

"Whoop-dee-do," Charlie muttered under his breath. "Just our luck, he'll be in there, too."

Emily took a steadying breath – she never drank and hated bars of any kind – and pulled open the door. Warm air billowed out to greet them, carrying with it the sickly sweet smell of liquor and cigarette smoke. The place was cheerier than she'd anticipated, and attractively decorated, despite its forbidding outward appearance. A barmaid waved a welcome and wordlessly indicated four empty stools at the bar.

"Fan out," Dr. McLaren instructed, "and keep an eye out for Jerry."

"No need," Cooper responded immediately, "He's right there." Katie, Emily and Davis followed the direction of his finger as he pointed to a blonde-haired man in a blue fleece windbreaker talking intently to a weathered old fisherman. "Looks like he hasn't given up yet," he remarked with admiration.

"Of course not," Katie said quietly, her dark eyes fastened on the back of Jerry's head, "He loves those dogs more than anything and he'll never give up on them."

Emily watched her friend out of the corner of her eye, easily reading the pain behind Katie's words. A movement near Jerry caught her attention, however and she glanced over at Jerry's table in order to see the last person she ever expected to see. Bryan Rice carried a couple of drinks over from the bar and set them down in front of Jerry and the fisherman before seating himself beside Jerry.

"Come on, Em," Katie murmured in her ear, breaking through Emily's astonishment and pulling her gently toward the bar. Dr. McLaren faded back into another area of the room, while Cooper took up a seat several people away from where they sat.

"What now?" Emily asked.

She received only a cryptic smile in return. Katie turned to address the barmaid. "Could I get a lemon-lime Fresca, please?"

The barmaid gave her a puzzled glance, but nodded and went into a back room. She returned a moment later with an ice-cold bottle of Katie's requested drink. "That'll be two American dollars," she said, setting the bottle in front of them.

Katie passed the amount over the counter. "Thank you," she said graciously, "Would you mind taking this to that man in the blue coat over there? Tell him I bought him a drink."

The barmaid again gave them a puzzled glance, while Emily regarded her friend with a mixture of amusement and consternation. As the girl walked over to Jerry's table with the Fresca, Emily leaned in and asked, "How on earth is that going to get his attention?"

Katie grinned. "For one thing, Jerry's bound to look for the woman who bought him a drink, and for another, we have a little inside joke about the Fresca. He'll know, but he won't believe until he sees us."

Behind them, they heard the barmaid approach Jerry. "Excuse me sir, the lady at the bar bought you a drink."

"Turn around," Katie whispered quickly and spun the barstool to face the rest of the room, where Jerry could see her. Emily followed suit and saw him gaping, dumbfounded, at them. He jumped up and crossed the room, pulling Katie into a fierce hug and pulling out the stool beside her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in amazement.

She cast a casual glance around the room. "There're plenty of people looking for a cheap ride out of here. And you know me, I'm always cheap on the off-season."

"Yeah?" he asked, ineffectively masking his pleasure. He leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek. He then cast his eye over Emily. "And you!" he kissed her cheek as well and pointed to Katie. "Are you with her? Did you two come alone?"

"Not alone," a Cooper's voice replied as he leaned back to grin like a Cheshire Cat.

"What the…?" Jerry asked, trailing off as his voice expressed his disbelief. He took a defiant stance, hands on his waist. "All right, what's going on? What kind of mission is this?"

"Uh, that'd be NSF," Davis McLaren supplied, leaning around the column against which he'd been leaning. Jerry's eyes widened in surprise, prompting a broad smile from the scientist. He adopted an innocent, teasing tone. "You know, I had a trip that was cut short. Had a couple of weeks of grant money left and figured I'd use it."

Jerry scoffed. "I don't believe this." His grin lit his entire face, belying his disbelief and Emily thought she could see the barest mistiness in his eyes.

During this exchange, Bryan Rice had also come up, standing silently behind Jerry and watching the proceedings with a small smile. Emily sent him a questioning glance, but he shrugged and shook his head, indicating that he didn't wish to talk.

Jerry drew her attention back to him again as he threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered in her ear. She laughed and hugged him back, thrilled to see him so happy.

"Well?" Davis asked. "Are you packed and ready to go?"

"You know me, I'm always packed," Jerry replied.

Davis shrugged his shoulders. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Jerry laughed, pulling Katie against his side and kissing the top of her head and extending his other arm for Emily to take, while Cooper and Bryan took up the rear as they filed outside.

**Author's Note: **_There you go! It's kind of true to the canon, but I did this purely from memory so it's not perfect. Don't forget to review!_


	18. An Explanation

**Chapter Eighteen: An Explanation**

Once aboard the icebreaker Dr. McLaren had hired for the voyage, Emily changed into an ivory cashmere turtleneck and a warm pair of jeans over some knit leggings. Helping herself to the ship's galley, she made herself a mug of steaming hot cocoa – complete with marshmallows – and dropped a peppermint into it for flavor. She returned to the navigation area where the rest of her companions were gathered and settled into a chair by the table where Davis and Charlie were engrossed in a game of checkers. Jerry had disappeared somewhere, and Katie got up to leave shortly after Emily's return, probably intending to find Jerry and talk to him for a little while. Emily pretended to ignore Katie's movements and looked around instead at the other passengers. Davis McLaren sported a fleece jacket, dark blue jeans, and heavy snow boots, while Charlie had returned to his classic Antarctic look – heavy jeans, thick woolen sweater, a sporty winter vest, and his ever-present multi-colored beanie with the long tassels. Bryan Rice sat at another table a few feet away, playing solitaire. He had abandoned his usual military uniform for a simple set of military winterized pants and a fuzzy olive-green knit sweater. His presence was a continual surprise to Emily. She had never expected to see him in Jerry's company – heck, she didn't even know they _knew_ each other – and had been even more surprised when he insisted on going with them to look for the dogs, saying that he'd helped Jerry this far and intended to see it through. _But how did he get involved with Jerry's search in the first place?_ Emily wondered. It was a question she sorely wanted the answer to.

"Excuse me," she said quietly to Davis and Charlie, who nodded their assent as she got up carefully and walked across to where Bryan sat. He glanced up as she sat down across from him before returning his attention to the cards in front of him.

Now that she was actually in front of him, Emily had no idea what to say. She sat in silence for several moments, watching Bryan shuffle the cards around. After another round, he sighed and set the cards aside. He focused his full attention on her face. "Something on your mind? I'm sure you didn't come all the way over here just to sit and watch me play solitaire." He smiled, a hint of his old flirtatious swagger returning to his features. "Or maybe you just love being near me… is that it?"

Emily chuckled, drawing a pleased smile from him. He'd been trying to make her laugh. "Actually I was just wondering how you got involved in this whole mess," she ventured when he said nothing more after his initial teasing. "As far as I know, Jerry wasn't very open about this and I didn't know you two knew each other."

Bryan sobered, his face growing serious. "I didn't – and still don't – know him very well. I only knew who he was." He shrugged his shoulders. "I saw him on the docks a couple of days ago. He looked so tired and discouraged that I took pity on him and bought him a drink. We sat down and talked and the whole story about his dogs came out. After that, I decided to help because it seemed like the right thing to do."

Emily was impressed in spite of herself. She'd always thought of Bryan as rather shallow, always showing off and flirting with the ladies. Now she realized that that was just an act, a pastime to amuse him during the long hours he stood behind in the flight registration booth. The real sergeant Rice was actually a decent man, inclined to be thoughtful and helpful rather than impulsive and foolhardy. "Thanks," she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

She glanced out the window, where the coal black sky was visible, speckled with stars. "I'm Jerry appreciates your kindness, and it means a lot to me that you wanted to help him out."

Bryan's registered mild surprise, then took on a closed expression. "Of course," he replied gently. "Jerry means a lot to you. That's why _you're_ here, too."

Emily nodded, slightly puzzled by the subtle change in Bryan's tone. Almost sarcastic, but not quite. She shook it off and stood. "Well, thanks anyway."

As she walked away, she barely heard him say, "You're welcome," over the low thrum of the engines.

**Author's Note: **_Sorry it's a short chapter. It's kind of on its own here, but I thought it was kind of sweet. Let me know what you think!_


	19. Overcoming the Obstacle

**Chapter Nineteen: Overcoming the Obstacle**

"Hey, Em?" Katie stood at the door to Emily's cabin. "The captain wants a word with us. All of us."

Emily set aside her book with a tiny sigh and followed Emily to the captain's cabin. The others had already gathered and the captain turned when she and Katie entered. "Good," he said in the heavy New Zealand accent, "I'm glad ye're all here." He spread his hands apart in a gesture of defeat. "This is as far as we can go, the ice is too thick for us break through now." His hands dropped to his side in hopelessness. "I'm sorry. I understand what this must mean for you."

"No," Emily murmured in a barely audible whisper, "don't be sorry. It's not your fault." She smiled sadly at him and then focused on Jerry, who seemed to be caving in on himself as she watched. "Jerry?" she asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

She felt the tenseness go out of them as he turned to face her. "We've come halfway around the world and can't even make it the last hundred miles," he said in a hollow voice. He looked at Katie, a shadow of hope crossing his features. "Is there any way the chopper can make it?"

She shook her head, her brown eyes sad and sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Jer. We don't have enough fuel to make it there and back."

"Simoneta," Charlie said suddenly.

Davis gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

Jerry rolled his eyes. "His imaginary girlfriend. Not now, Coope. We're _trying_ to be serious right now."

"No, no, no," Cooper protested, "Just hear me out. You remember two seasons ago, when I mapped out the penguin routes? Well, due to some ice shifts, they changed their course and ended up taking a path right through the Italian base." His eyes took a dreamy quality. "Where one Simoneta Parocciolle whipped me up a wicked cup of hot chocolate…"

Davis looked confused. "But what's this got to do with –"

"Horses, Doc," Charlie responded promptly, "Rein 'em in. The point is, she showed me around the base. Now every base has the same basic stuff, right? But the _Italian_ base has SnoCat – the Lamborghini of snowmobiles. Now," he continued, gesturing them over to the navigational charts, "here's us, and here's our base, right? And now look at the Italian base, right here. It's half the distance. We can take the chopper to the Italian base, borrow the SnoCat, and take _it_ the rest of the way. We can get more fuel from Victoria to get us back to the Italian base." He scanned their faces triumphantly. "What do you think?"

Davis and Katie traded glances, looking impressed, Bryan nodded pensively, his eyes on the charts, while Jerry stared at his friend with open astonishment and looked like he was about to hug him. Emily smiled. "This just might work, guys."

* * *

They wasted no time in getting things ready to go. With no further progress to be made by ship, they saw no reason to delay their departure. Emily and Katie checked the helicopter, readying it for take-off – with the assistance of the ship's deck crew – before returning to their cabins to pack their things.

Emily was in the midst of gathering her cold-weather gear into a mesh bag when she heard a tap on her door. "Come in," she replied without turning around.

"It's Jerry," Jerry announced himself. Mildly surprised, Emily turned around, rubbing her hands on her jeans to warm them.

"What do you need?" she asked, curious to know his reason for coming.

He looked down at the ground and cleared his throat. "Emily," he began, looking pained. He stopped, clearly struggling to sort out his thoughts. "Look, I feel I owe you an apology for what I said to you a few months ago at McMurdo. I was out of line and said too many things I shouldn't have."

Her look softened. "Jerry, I told already that there's nothing to forgive. I understand completely."

He regarded her seriously for a moment, absorbing her words. Suddenly, he changed the subject. "Why _did_ you decide to come? It couldn't have been easy for you to convince your mother to agree to it."

"You're my friend, Jer," she replied simply. "I didn't lie when I said I'd do what I could to help you."

He smiled gratefully and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," he whispered.

She gave him a quick squeeze in return before pushing away gently. "Now get out of here, Jer," she growled in mock severity, "Katie might get jealous."

He blushed a little, forcing her to stifle a laugh as he ducked out into the hallway.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Short chapter, sorry. Bit of a sweet little moment between Jerry and Emily. Oh, and since I'm still doing this from memory, I have no idea exactly what Cooper's girlfriend's last name is, so sorry if I mutilated it. I need to watch the movie again. When I do, I'll fix it. Please review!_


	20. Back In The Antarctic

**Chapter Twenty: Back in the Antarctic**

"Everyone ready?" Katie called back as she fired up the helicopter's engines.

"No," Charlie moaned from somewhere in the back of the chopper. Emily turned in the copilot's seat and looked back to see him sitting between Bryan and Davis, his eyes closed tightly. "Just revive me when we land, okay?"

From the third row, Jerry leaned forward and clapped Charlie on the shoulder. "I'm not going to _let_ you pass out, Coope." The others laughed as Charlie winced visibly.

Both Katie and Emily grinned at each other as they turned back to the controls and lifted the chopper in the air. The deck of the ship fell away below them – accompanied by an all-too-audible whimper from Cooper – giving way to the blindingly white sheet ice that spread out from the coast. Both pilots donned sunglasses to ease the sun glare and aimed the helicopter toward the Italian base.

* * *

"Here we are," Emily announced, keeping her eyes fastened on the terrain below and helping Katie guide the chopper down. They landed with a gentle thud, sending up a poof of powdery top-snow. Katie shut down the engine while Emily got out and opened the doors for Bryan, Davis, Charlie and Jerry. Charlie took command the second his feet touched the ground, clearly reveling in his newfound authority. He directed Jerry, Davis, and Bryan to shovel out the garage doors while he searched for the keys and the gas to make the SnoCat run. Katie and Emily went to work fastening the chopper down and locking the propellers against the wind. They finished with their work and turned to observe the men at work.

"Pick up the pace, boys," Katie teased, "Or we might as well stay here until the summer teams come in."

Jerry shot her a reproachful look, while Bryan and Davis paused in their work long enough to glare at her indignantly. They had only a few shovelfuls left to go and in a matter of a few minutes, they tossed aside their shovels and pulled the heavy doors open. The rumble of an engine igniting accompanied the strained groan of the doors as they swung on their frozen hinges.

"All aboard!" Charlie called, leaning out the window. "The train's leaving!"

They all piled in the SnoCat – Katie, Davis, Bryan and Emily all jammed in the backseat, while Jerry and Charlie claimed the front seats for themselves. Before they started, Cooper cleared his throat significantly and slapped a framed photo into Jerry's hands. Emily leaned forward to see a snapshot of Cooper with his arms around a beautiful auburn-haired Italian woman – Simoneta.

Jerry stared at it for several drawn-out seconds, the surprise apparent on his face. He looked up at Charlie, impressed. "What do you want me to say? 'You're the man'?"

"That'd be nice, yes," Charlie replied, obviously struggling to control a triumphant grin.

"All right, Coope, you're the man. You're the _man_. Happy now?"

Charlie chuckled gloatingly. "Gracci, Geraldo, gracci," he answered in an almost flawless Italian accent.

Davis had had enough of their bantering. "All right, you two, let's get going."

Cooper grinned like a Cheshire Cat and turned around in his seat to look at Katie and Emily. "You know all those horrible plane rides you two put me through?"

Emily raised her eyebrows and Katie said, musingly, "Yeah...?"

With a wicked grin, Charlie said, "Payback is a dish best served cold."

"Uh, Charlie," Davis interjected, "Isn't it 'revenge'?"

Any further comments were cut off as Charlie slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and the SnoCat rocketed forward, cruising off over the barren snow fields.

* * *

What had started out as easy, cheerful bantering lapsed into a tense silence as the SnoCat ate up the miles to Victoria. Katie and Emily shot frequent glances at Jerry, who had said nothing since the initial conversation at the beginning. His eyes were closed and his head bowed, his knuckles were white where he gripped the arms of his seat. Davis stared stolidly out the window, while Bryan had his head back against the headrest and stared blankly through the front windshield. As soon as the American flag could be spotted fluttering against the white backdrop and the low dark blur of the buildings could be seen, the tension rose to an almost tangible level.

Wordlessly, Charlie slowed the SnoCat and gently shut off the engine. In silence, they all climbed out onto the frozen snow, donning glasses to shield their eyes from the blinding glare of sunlight off the ice. As they stared across the level snow, Emily searched for a sign of where the dogs might have been chained. Finally, she spotted the end of a metal stake, poking up about two inches out of the snow. Her heart sank. Surely they must have been totally buried and starved to death. Glancing across at Jerry, she could see that he'd reached the same conclusion. Very gently, she laid a hand on his shoulder, willing him to feel her sympathy and her concern. He drew a deep breath and moved away from her touch, treading carefully across the snow to the stake. Painstakingly, he crouched by the stake, pulling off his thick winter gloves and tenderly extracting the iron chain from its frozen shell. Katie made as if to join him, but Davis stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Let him do this alone," Emily heard him whisper to her.

Jerry lifted the chain inch by inch, his boots shuffling the snow and scuffing on the ice as he followed it down the line. When he came to an off-shooting chain – leading to the latch that attached to a collar – he stopped for a long moment, bracing himself for what was to come. Finally, he began lifting it out of the snow, his strong hands moving along it with relative ease. Suddenly, it stopped. Jerry tugged, but it didn't move any more. Hesitantly, he reached down and brushed the snow away. Then Jerry jerked his hand back as though it had been stung. "It's Old Jack," he said. Though he kept his back to them, Emily could plainly hear the tremor in his voice and she knew that he was crying. "He never even made it off the chain." She saw him lift a hand to wipe away what must be tears on his cheeks. He shook his head, shaking off his fears and steeling himself for the rest of the line. After a long pause, he began pulling on the chain again, following it until he came to the next side-chain. This time, however, the end of the chain slipped out of the snow, a snapped and frayed collar dangling at the end of it. "They got off…" Jerry gasped in amazement. In one fluid movement, he stood and tugged hard on the chain. Snow erupted, spraying ice and soft powdery crystals everywhere as six other dog-less collars exploded from the ice.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! Of course, you all know what happens next. Or you should. Otherwise I've just given almost the whole movie away, which sucks for you. But that's not my fault. Anyway, there's probably only going to be one, maybe two more chapters and then this story's DONE! Yay! Not that I haven't enjoyed writing this, but it's taken me way too long to finish and I'm ready to start something new. Please Review! Elena_


	21. Found Again

**Chapter Twenty-one: Found Again**

"They got off!" Jerry repeated in astonishment, sinking to his knees.

Laughing in glee, Emily and Katie threw their arms around each other, glad to have at least a speck of hope restored to what had been a bleak prospect only seconds before. Suddenly, Bryan pressed a hand down on both of their shoulders, pulling them apart and forcing them to be still. "Listen," he insisted when they looked at him in consternation.

Bryan had been trained in the military to be alert for small sounds and his years as a naval officer and hangar attendant had sharpened his sensitivity to changes in air pressures in holding tanks and engine whine pitches. Now, he was obviously hearing something that they could not. But only for a few seconds. Suddenly, Jerry lifted his head, his eyes focused intently on the horizon. Then the others heard it too. A series of short, rapid barks floated on the icy wind to their ears.

Suddenly, as if drawn to them by some invisible source, five dogs appeared over the crest of a snowy hill just past the Victoria's drift-fences. For one breathtaking moment, the dogs froze, staring at the newcomers, then, led by the little black-and-white pup Emily had met only once, all five of them pelted down the hill, sprinting toward Jerry with all the speed they could muster.

"Max!" Jerry called, his face breaking into a wide smile as he jumped to his feet and began jogging toward his dogs. "C'mere, Max!" he commanded, pushing back his coat and tapping his chest as the youngest of his beloved "kids" vaulted at the spot, plowing him over. Jerry laughed as Max covered his face in doggy kisses and he threw his arms around the squirming dog, pure joy written all over his face.

Emily watched only for a minute before recognizing her favorite dog. "Shadow!" she cried crouching down as the big malamute skidded into her arms and smothered her with kisses.

Katie stooped to throw her arms around Shorty's snow-white body and pull him close, while Davis cuddled with an ecstatic Truman. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw Buck launch himself at Cooper, bowling him over and licking every inch of his face that was still exposed – much to Charlie's distress.

Finally, Jerry pushed Max away from his face and rolled to his feet. "Come here, kids!" he called. As Shorty, Shadow and Truman all obeyed, Jerry's eyes settled on Charlie's prone form – held down by Buck's not-insubstantial weight – with a bemused twinkle. "Buck, leave Cooper alone," he chided, laughing. The big dog licked Charlie's face one last time before obediently jumping off Charlie's chest and joining the other dogs in front of Jerry. Emily sat ungracefully in the snow, arms draped over her knees as she watched the flicker of sadness cross her longtime-friend's face. "Shorty, Buck, Truman, Shadow and Max," he listed off, looking affectionately at each of the dogs in turn. "My lucky stars," he murmured softly.

Emily raised an eyebrow at the comment, and looked questioningly at Katie, who only shook her head silently. The redhead shrugged and got to her feet, stamping the cold-induced numbness out of her toes and knees. "Katie," she whispered, leaning closer to her friend. When she had her attention, she motioned wordlessly to Jerry and the dogs, then at the SnoCat. "We need to get going."

"I'll get the back ready," Bryan volunteered suddenly. He had been silent and motionless during the happy reunion, alienated from the situation because he hadn't known about it until a few days ago. Emily watched him jog around the back of the SnoCat, wondering at his quiet attitude. Something about his explanation that evening on the ship just did not sit right and she knew that he had another reason for being here. But she didn't know what.

During her musing about Bryan, Katie had moved up behind Jerry. "Let's get them in the snowmobile, Jer. It's time to go home," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Jerry suddenly said briskly, seeming to shake himself out of whatever thoughts had absorbed his attention. "Alright kids! Into the truck! Let's go!"

Charlie and Bryan held the back doors open as, one by one, the dogs leaped inside. All, that is, except Max. When Jerry motioned for him to climb inside, the young pup made a move toward the SnoCat, and suddenly shied away, barking insistently all the time. "Max, let's go," Jerry said impatiently. When the pup continued to bark and turn back the way they'd come, comprehension suddenly dawned. "What is it, Max? What's wrong?"

Emily came around and stood by Katie, watching Jerry and Max, perplexed. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I have no idea..." Katie replied, her attention riveted on Jerry's retreating back as he followed Max back up the hill and over the crest.

Bryan came up behind them as they watched for Jerry's return. "Emily?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" she replied absentmindedly, her eyes still scanning the crest for Jerry.

"Can I talk to you for a min–"

Emily cut him off with a hand on his arm as a flash of red came back toward them over the hill. Jerry was back, Max trotting at his side, and in his arms, he carried…

"Maya! It's Maya!" Katie cried, throwing her arms around Emily's neck. "She's all right!"

Emily could not restrain a grin as Jerry approached and Katie went up to him, filled with motherly concern for the pretty husky's well-being. Her Native American friend hopped into the backseat of the SnoCat and gathered Maya in her arms so that Jerry could follow her. "Come on, Max," he ordered once he'd settled in. Seeing Emily and Bryan still standing in the snow, he glanced at the crowded cab, his eyes flickering in concern. "Sorry, Em, I'd forgotten about you and Rice. There's room here…"

"It's okay, Shepard," Bryan suddenly interrupted, laying a hand on Emily's arm, "we'll ride with the dogs. We wouldn't want to get in the way," he added with a sly wink.

* * *

_Sorry that it's taken so long to update. I've been busy with schoolwork. Enjoy! There's only one more chapter!_


	22. Love Comes To Those Who Wait

**Chapter Twenty-two: Love Comes To Those Who Wait**

"So tell me," Bryan began slowly, watching Emily carefully over the bodies of four squirming Siberian Huskies, "do you love Jerry?"

Surprised at his boldness, Emily could only blink owlishly at him for several seconds. Then she laughed. "Of course not, not in the way most people define love."

Bryan seemed taken aback at her response and said nothing.

She cocked her head to one side, smiling coyly. "Why the sudden interest? Are you jealous?"

Bryan flinched as though she'd actually hit him and he looked up at her in surprise.

She chuckled at his expression. "Oh, come _on_, Rice. Did you really think I was _that_ dense? There were a few too many holes in your explanation on the boat, and even I'm not blind to the fact that you get touchy when Jerry's around us." She sat back and absently ran her now-ungloved-fingers through Shadow's silky winter coat. "I just want to know why you chose to help Jerry. The _real_ reason."

It was the first time she could ever recall seeing Bryan Rice look so unhinged. His eyes darted nervously, never looking at her face, and he'd clasped his hands so tightly that the knuckles had turned white. Finally, he agitatedly ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh. "The truth?" he asked, almost plaintively. She nodded. He sighed again. "The truth is, I helped Shepard because I knew that it would make you happy. I knew you would want somebody to help him out." He shrugged. "That's it: the simple truth."

Emily regarded him seriously as he stared down at Shorty and Buck. Clearly, he intended to wait for her answer before doing anything else. Slowly, she leaned forward, her eyes never leaving his face. "So tell me..." she said, deliberately echoing his earlier words, drawing his attention up to her face. "Do _you_ love _me_?"

He smiled faintly. "I have for a long time, Hawkins."

She leaned a little closer still. "But you never said anything." It wasn't a question.

"Didn't think you'd listen," he said frankly.

She acknowledged his statement with a rueful grin. "You're probably right."

Now Bryan leaned closer, until their faces were only a few inches apart. "Will you listen now?" he asked, his eyes locked onto hers.

Shadow nuzzled her chin as she gave him a sly smile. "I might."

For a full, drawn-out minute, they let the words hang between them, neither of them moving except to accommodate the shifting of Jerry's dogs. Finally, Bryan broke the silence. "Kiss me."

Her eyes registered brief surprise at his straightforwardness. Then she smiled and leaned in to close the gap, her hand reaching up to rest on his neck, while he cradled her head in one hand. He kissed her gently, and she found herself savoring the sensation. Neither of them noticed that the rumble of the SnoCat's engine had shut off and the land-crawler had come to a stop. He pressed a little harder, and she slid off the bench to kneel at his feet, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close.

Suddenly, the back doors of the vehicle were thrown open, blinding them both with sunlight. They broke apart to see Jerry, Katie, Charlie, and Dr. McLaren staring at them in open-mouthed surprise. "Well," Jerry said, regaining his composure and regarding Emily teasingly, "I guess we won't leave you two alone again."

"You're ruining the moment, Jerry," Emily scolded, staying in Bryan's arms.

"Yeah, well, that's my job, isn't it?" he asked playfully.

Emily rolled her eyes and looked at Katie. "Will you shut him up, please?"

"Don't bother, Katie," Jerry interrupted before Katie could say anything, "I'll shut myself up." With that, he slipped and arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her soundly. Charlie whooped and catcalled before Davis glared him into silence, while Bryan laughed at Emily's stunned expression. Obviously Katie and Jerry had made up during the trip as well.

When they broke apart, Emily raised an eyebrow. "Took you long enough."

"Hey, don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong, Emily Hawkins," Jerry reprimanded, his eyes betraying his amusement.

"Watch what you say to my girl," Bryan interrupted, a broad grin crossing his face.

Emily turned to regard him with curiosity. "_Your_ girl?"

He stared defiantly back at her. "Yeah, 'my girl.' Are you okay with that?"

She grinned and kissed him quickly. "I suppose I am."

* * *

_Thanks to all my reviewers. This was the last chappie! Tell me what you think!_


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